At a glance
- Width
- 141 to 316 m
- about 1,144 bananas
- Speed
- 14.80 km/s
- 53,296 km/h · 33,116 mph
- Misses us by
- 159.1 lunar
- 61,175,992 km · 38,012,987 miles
- First spotted by us
- 13th November 2026
- 3 page views
How far is "close"?
Same gap, ranked against places you have heard of, on a log scale because the Sun is awkwardly far away.
How big is it, really?
NASA only estimates the width, so we show the biggest guess. Log scale again. Everest is just there to make everything else look reasonable.
How fast is it going?
Speed relative to Earth at closest approach. The International Space Station is the fastest thing most of us will ever stand under. This lot would lap it.
If it hit (it will not)
Rough impact energy at the biggest size estimate, assuming solid rock, in tonnes, kilotons and megatons of TNT, which is how everyone who has to do this maths measures it. Treat it as a ballpark. The point stands: no impact is scheduled.
Where it actually lives
A top-down view of the orbit, to scale, with Earth's and Mars's orbits for company. The tilt of the orbit is ignored, so treat the shape as right and the exact position as roughly right. The Sun is the orange dot in the middle.
- Orbit class
- ATEAten: crosses Earth's orbit while spending most of its time inside it, between us and the Sun.
- Year length
- 0.72 Earth years (265 days)One lap of the Sun. Your commute is shorter, and so is your patience.
- Eccentricity
- 0.283How squashed the orbit is. 0 is a perfect circle, 1 is "leaving". Noticeably oval. Mildly dramatic.
- Tilt
- 6.8°The angle of its orbit against the flat plane the planets share. Slightly tipsy.
- Closest to the Sun
- 0.58 AU87 million km. One AU is the distance from Earth to the Sun.
- Furthest from the Sun
- 1.03 AU155 million km. Never leaves the inner solar system.
- Closest orbit-to-orbit gap
- 0.017 AUIf you only compare the two orbits, not where the planets are, they come within 7 lunar distances. The rock is rarely there at the same time as us, which is the entire reason we are still here.
- Observations used
- 496NASA has measured this one 496 times. It has been stalked thoroughly.
- Watched for
- 8.1 years2016-04-15 to 2024-06-02. Not long, so the orbit is still being refined and the rock is still a bit of a stranger.
- Orbit uncertainty
- 0 out of 90 means we know exactly where it is going. 9 means a shrug. Lower is better.
Is it actually hazardous?
This one crosses both lines, which is why NASA flags it. Flagged is not the same as aimed: the orbit is well measured and the next approach misses by 159.1 lunar distances.
Not on NASA's Sentry impact-risk watch list. No further action, no thoughts, head empty.
Its history with us
Every known pass this rock makes, 1900 to 2200. Dim dots are the past, green dots are still to come, the big orange ring is this one. The dashed line is the Moon's distance, so anything below it is closer than the Moon. Almost nothing is.
| Date | Miss distance | Speed |
|---|---|---|
| 20th April 2021 | 150.5 LD · 57,894,859 km | 17.6 km/s |
| 28th September 2021 | 150.7 LD · 57,971,146 km | 12.1 km/s |
| 1st June 2024 | 19.8 LD · 7,604,632 km | 7.1 km/s |
| 20th November 2026 (this one) | 159.1 LD · 61,175,992 km | 14.8 km/s |
| 15th April 2029 | 90.3 LD · 34,745,260 km | 12.5 km/s |
| 5th September 2029 | 136.6 LD · 52,546,959 km | 9.0 km/s |
| 12th January 2032 | 132.7 LD · 51,047,427 km | 9.6 km/s |
| 4th June 2032 | 81.7 LD · 31,413,278 km | 12.2 km/s |
| 30th October 2034 | 160.1 LD · 61,568,894 km | 14.7 km/s |
| 18th April 2037 | 30.6 LD · 11,750,718 km | 7.1 km/s |
By the numbers
- Estimated mass
- 4.4 million tonnes to 49.7 million tonnesVolume of a sphere at NASA's smallest and largest width estimates, times 3,000 kg per cubic metre (typical rock). Real shapes are lumpier, so treat it as a ballpark.
- Swimming pools of rock
- 2,510 Olympic poolsSphere volume at the middle width estimate, divided by 2,500 cubic metres per Olympic pool.
- Impact energy, if it hit
- 116 megatons to 1,301 megatonsHalf mass times speed squared, at the small and large width estimates, converted to TNT (1 kiloton is 4.184 trillion joules). A rock this far away is not going to do this.
- Speed against escape velocity
- 1.3 timesIts speed relative to Earth, divided by the 11.186 km/s needed to leave Earth's gravity. It is travelling a lot faster than we can throw things.
- Speed against Earth in orbit
- 0.50 timesDivided by Earth's own orbital speed of 29.78 km/s around the Sun.
- Time to cross the UK
- 65.5 secondsLand's End to John o' Groats is about 970 km in a straight line. Divided by its speed.
- Time to fly the miss distance
- 47.8 daysThe miss distance divided by its speed. This is how long it needs to cover a gap of that size, which is a measure of how near or far the pass is.
- Light takes to cross the gap
- 204.1 secondsMiss distance divided by the speed of light.
- Width from brightness alone
- 141 to 316 mAstronomers estimate size from how bright an asteroid is (H 21.4) and how reflective it is. A shiny rock (albedo 0.25) is smaller than a dark one (0.05) for the same brightness. NASA's own estimate above uses the same idea.
- Laps of the Sun since first spotted
- 11.22,970 days of observation divided by its 265-day year.
- Known close approaches, 1900 to 2200
- 1750 inside the Moon's orbit and 4 within ten lunar distances.
- Closest pass in that period
- 8.08 lunar distancesOn 19th May 1958.
- Next visit after this one
- 15th April 2029At 90.3 lunar distances. Closer than this time.
- Average gap between visits
- 1.7 yearsThe span of the record divided by the number of gaps between approaches.
- Rank by size
- 13 of 42Among every asteroid this site has tracked, biggest first.
- Rank by closeness
- 30 of 42Among every asteroid this site has tracked, using each one's most recent pass, closest first.
- Rank by speed
- 21 of 42Among every asteroid this site has tracked, fastest first.
How reliable are these?
Width, speed, miss distance and orbit come straight from NASA. Mass, energy, volume and the rankings are our own arithmetic on top, and the assumptions are written beside each one. NASA publishes a range for width because nobody has seen most of these rocks up close, so wherever we show one number it uses the biggest estimate and says so.
Will asteroid 2016 JC6 hit Earth? Questions answered
Will asteroid 2016 JC6 hit Earth?
No. 2016 JC6 passes Earth on 20th November 2026 at 159.1 lunar distances (61,175,992 km), which is 159.1 times the distance to the Moon. NASA flags it as potentially hazardous, which describes its size and orbit, not an impact course: its path is well measured and it misses Earth. It is not on NASA's Sentry impact-risk watch list.
How big is asteroid 2016 JC6?
NASA estimates it is between 141 m and 316 m wide, which at the top end is about 3.0 football pitches long. Nobody has seen it up close, so the width is an estimate from its brightness.
How fast is asteroid 2016 JC6 travelling?
14.8 km/s relative to Earth at closest approach, about 53,296 km/h (33,116 mph). That is 1.9 times the speed of the International Space Station.
Is 2016 JC6 a potentially hazardous asteroid?
Yes. NASA gives the label to asteroids whose orbit comes within 0.05 astronomical units of Earth's (about 7.5 million km) and which are bigger than roughly 140 m. 2016 JC6 has an absolute magnitude of 21.4 and its orbit comes within 0.017 AU of Earth's.
When is asteroid 2016 JC6's next close approach?
After this pass, the next one in NASA's record is on 20th November 2026, at 159.1 lunar distances.
Unhelpful facts
- That is 1,103 times the speed limit on a 30 zone. Nobody has fined it yet.
- Line up 52 elephants to match its width. The elephants would like to be consulted first.
- It passes in 7 days, which is 49 dog days. Your dog is already nervous, mostly about the post.
- If it did hit, that would release roughly 1,301 megatons of TNT, assuming solid rock. It will not, so enjoy the number.
- Light crosses the gap in 204.06 seconds. That is not enough time to say "what was that".
- Roughly 486 car tyres wide. Check the tread before you worry about the rock.
- As fast as 1,191 Usain Bolts at top speed, none of whom have been told.
- A UK train would take 69.8 years to cross the same gap, plus delays "due to a train being late".
- It is moving 152 times faster than a sports car, and has never once paid a congestion charge.
- 40.89% of the way to the Sun. Nobody is cancelling summer.
- About 3.0 football pitches long. Still no better than a mid-table side.
- About 903 wheels of Gouda across. A brave scientist would call that a dairy event.