Discovered by Pan-STARRS 1 (F51) Observation arc 5 days Perihelion 0.86941 ± 0.00004 AU Discoverer Pan-STARRS | Discovery date August 2, 2016 Aphelion 2.952 ± 0.002 AU Discovered 2 August 2016 Asteroid group Apollo asteroid | |
Minor planet category Mars-crosser, Apollo asteroid, Near-Earth object Similar 2014 RC, (436724) 2011 UW158, 2012 TC4, (469219) 2016 HO3 | ||
2016 PQ is an approximately 30-meter sized asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group, with a very small minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) to the Earth – only around 3,720 kilometres (2,310 miles), or 0.584 Earth radii. It has the 19th lowest MOID of any known asteroid, as well as the 7th lowest MOID of any object larger than it (after (433953) 1997 XR2, 2006 QV89, (85236) 1993 KH, 2013 TX68, 2014 DA, and 2004 FH).
The asteroid was discovered by the Pan-STARRS telescope on August 2, when it had reached magnitude 20.5, and it had brightened by magnitude 19.0 by August 5, after which it became too close to the Sun to spot with ground-based telescopes. It reached its closest approach to the Earth on August 7, 2016, at 0.025 AU, or 9.8 lunar distances.
Despite its very low MOID, 2016 PQ is not on the Sentry Risk Table, as it is not going to make any nearby close approaches to Earth in the near future.
The asteroid's orbit is near that of a 3:8 resonance with Earth, meaning that for every 8 orbits the Earth makes, 2016 PQ makes roughly 3, contributing to the fact that it makes no significant close approaches in the next few decades.