(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Sep 2026	18.9	42.604 AU	42.359 AU	18h42m	-15°02'	103.4°	1.3°
Opposition	4 Jul 2027	18.7	42.579 AU	41.572 AU	18h51m	-14°42'	171.8°	0.2°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of Quaoar are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0351994
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 43.1560188
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.99158
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 188.91917
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 163.21294
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 292.84483
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 172.28609
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.30123
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 283.51            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   18 42 06.4   -15 02 08    42.359   42.604  103.4    1.3    88   18.9 
2026-09-20 08:09 UT   18 42 06.3   -15 02 12    42.365   42.604  103.1    1.3    88   18.9 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   18 42 06.1   -15 02 20    42.375   42.604  102.5    1.3    88   18.9 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   18 42 05.9   -15 02 32    42.392   42.603  101.5    1.3    87   18.9 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   18 42 05.9   -15 02 43    42.409   42.603  100.5    1.3    87   18.9 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   18 42 05.9   -15 02 55    42.425   42.603   99.6    1.3    87   18.9 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   18 42 06.0   -15 03 06    42.442   42.603   98.6    1.3    87   18.9 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   18 42 06.2   -15 03 17    42.458   42.603   97.6    1.3    87   18.9 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   18 42 06.6   -15 03 29    42.475   42.603   96.7    1.3    87   18.9 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   18 42 07.0   -15 03 40    42.492   42.603   95.7    1.3    87   18.9 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   18 42 07.5   -15 03 51    42.509   42.603   94.7    1.3    86   18.9 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   18 42 08.1   -15 04 02    42.526   42.603   93.7    1.3    86   18.9 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   18 42 08.8   -15 04 13    42.542   42.603   92.8    1.3    86   18.9 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   18 42 09.6   -15 04 24    42.559   42.603   91.8    1.3    86   18.9 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   18 42 10.5   -15 04 34    42.576   42.602   90.8    1.3    86   18.9 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   18 42 11.5   -15 04 45    42.593   42.602   89.9    1.3    86   18.9 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   18 42 12.6   -15 04 55    42.610   42.602   88.9    1.3    86   18.9 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   18 42 13.8   -15 05 06    42.627   42.602   87.9    1.3    85   18.9 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   18 42 15.1   -15 05 16    42.644   42.602   87.0    1.3    85   18.9 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   18 42 16.5   -15 05 26    42.661   42.602   86.0    1.3    85   18.9 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   18 42 18.0   -15 05 36    42.677   42.602   85.0    1.3    85   18.9 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   18 42 19.6   -15 05 46    42.694   42.602   84.0    1.3    85   18.9 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   18 42 21.2   -15 05 56    42.711   42.602   83.1    1.3    85   18.9 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   18 42 23.0   -15 06 05    42.728   42.602   82.1    1.3    85   18.9 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   18 42 24.9   -15 06 15    42.744   42.602   81.1    1.3    85   18.9 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   18 42 26.9   -15 06 24    42.761   42.602   80.1    1.3    84   18.9 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   18 42 28.9   -15 06 33    42.778   42.601   79.2    1.3    84   18.9 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   18 42 31.1   -15 06 42    42.794   42.601   78.2    1.3    84   18.9 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   18 42 33.4   -15 06 51    42.811   42.601   77.2    1.3    84   18.9 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   18 42 35.7   -15 06 59    42.827   42.601   76.3    1.3    84   18.9 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   18 42 38.2   -15 07 08    42.843   42.601   75.3    1.3    84   18.9 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   18 42 40.7   -15 07 16    42.860   42.601   74.3    1.3    83   18.9 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.