1996 Adams, provisional designation 1961 UA, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 October 1961, by the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States. The minor planet is named after John Couch Adams (1819–1892), British mathematician and astronomer, who predicted the existence and position of Neptune, simultaneously with French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier, (also see 1997 Leverrier). The lunar crater Adams is also named in his honour.