(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Jan 2026	18.9	42.625 AU	43.531 AU	18h46m	-15°10'	22.7°	0.5°
Opposition	3 Jul 2026	18.7	42.610 AU	41.604 AU	18h46m	-14°48'	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)                : 0.0358351
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 43.1476492
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.99137
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 188.96329
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 163.92275
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 291.48185
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 173.03421
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.20645
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 283.42            
        

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
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   18 46 03.6   -15 10 18    43.531   42.625   22.7    0.5   285   18.9 
2026-01-23 08:19 UT   18 46 05.8   -15 10 15    43.529   42.625   23.0    0.5   284   18.9 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   18 46 09.8   -15 10 07    43.524   42.625   23.7    0.5   284   18.9 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   18 46 15.9   -15 09 56    43.518   42.625   24.6    0.6   283   18.9 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   18 46 21.9   -15 09 44    43.511   42.624   25.5    0.6   282   18.9 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   18 46 28.0   -15 09 33    43.504   42.624   26.5    0.6   281   18.9 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   18 46 33.9   -15 09 21    43.496   42.624   27.4    0.6   281   18.9 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   18 46 39.9   -15 09 09    43.488   42.624   28.4    0.6   280   18.9 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   18 46 45.8   -15 08 57    43.480   42.624   29.3    0.6   279   18.9 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   18 46 51.6   -15 08 44    43.472   42.624   30.3    0.7   279   18.9 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   18 46 57.4   -15 08 32    43.463   42.624   31.2    0.7   278   18.9 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   18 47 03.2   -15 08 20    43.455   42.624   32.2    0.7   278   18.9 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   18 47 08.9   -15 08 07    43.446   42.624   33.1    0.7   277   18.9 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   18 47 14.5   -15 07 54    43.436   42.624   34.1    0.7   277   18.9 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   18 47 20.1   -15 07 41    43.427   42.624   35.1    0.8   277   18.9 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   18 47 25.7   -15 07 29    43.417   42.623   36.0    0.8   276   18.9 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   18 47 31.2   -15 07 15    43.407   42.623   37.0    0.8   276   18.9 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   18 47 36.6   -15 07 02    43.397   42.623   38.0    0.8   275   18.9 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   18 47 42.0   -15 06 49    43.386   42.623   38.9    0.8   275   18.9 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   18 47 47.3   -15 06 36    43.375   42.623   39.9    0.9   275   18.9 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   18 47 52.5   -15 06 22    43.364   42.623   40.9    0.9   274   18.9 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   18 47 57.7   -15 06 09    43.353   42.623   41.8    0.9   274   18.9 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   18 48 02.8   -15 05 55    43.342   42.623   42.8    0.9   274   18.9 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   18 48 07.9   -15 05 41    43.330   42.623   43.8    0.9   273   18.9 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   18 48 12.9   -15 05 28    43.318   42.623   44.7    0.9   273   18.9 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   18 48 17.8   -15 05 14    43.306   42.623   45.7    1.0   273   18.9 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   18 48 22.7   -15 04 60    43.294   42.622   46.7    1.0   273   18.9 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   18 48 27.5   -15 04 46    43.282   42.622   47.7    1.0   272   18.9 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   18 48 32.2   -15 04 32    43.269   42.622   48.6    1.0   272   18.9 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   18 48 36.8   -15 04 18    43.256   42.622   49.6    1.0   272   18.9 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   18 48 41.4   -15 04 04    43.243   42.622   50.6    1.0   272   18.9 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   18 48 45.9   -15 03 50    43.230   42.622   51.6    1.0   271   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.