(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	17 Nov 2024	18.9	42.663 AU	43.369 AU	18h33m	-15°20'	44.0°	0.9°
Opposition	1 Jul 2025	18.7	42.641 AU	41.635 AU	18h40m	-14°53'	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)                : 0.0395106
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 43.3121697
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.99128
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 189.09916
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 159.90880
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 292.88348
            Epoch                           : 2023 Sep 13

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 169.18766
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.73728
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 285.05            
        

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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2024-11-17 00:00 UT   18 33 55.1   -15 20 10    43.369   42.663   44.0    0.9    78   18.9 
2024-11-17 08:04 UT   18 33 56.8   -15 20 11    43.373   42.663   43.7    0.9    78   18.9 
2024-11-18 00:00 UT   18 34 00.2   -15 20 13    43.380   42.663   43.1    0.9    78   18.9 
2024-11-19 00:00 UT   18 34 05.4   -15 20 16    43.391   42.663   42.1    0.9    78   18.9 
2024-11-20 00:00 UT   18 34 10.6   -15 20 19    43.402   42.663   41.1    0.9    78   18.9 
2024-11-21 00:00 UT   18 34 16.0   -15 20 22    43.413   42.663   40.2    0.9    77   18.9 
2024-11-22 00:00 UT   18 34 21.3   -15 20 24    43.424   42.663   39.2    0.8    77   18.9 
2024-11-23 00:00 UT   18 34 26.8   -15 20 26    43.434   42.663   38.2    0.8    76   18.9 
2024-11-24 00:00 UT   18 34 32.2   -15 20 28    43.444   42.663   37.3    0.8    76   18.9 
2024-11-25 00:00 UT   18 34 37.8   -15 20 30    43.454   42.663   36.3    0.8    76   18.9 
2024-11-26 00:00 UT   18 34 43.4   -15 20 31    43.464   42.663   35.3    0.8    75   18.9 
2024-11-27 00:00 UT   18 34 49.0   -15 20 32    43.473   42.662   34.4    0.7    75   18.9 
2024-11-28 00:00 UT   18 34 54.7   -15 20 33    43.482   42.662   33.4    0.7    74   18.9 
2024-11-29 00:00 UT   18 35 00.5   -15 20 34    43.491   42.662   32.5    0.7    74   18.9 
2024-11-30 00:00 UT   18 35 06.3   -15 20 35    43.500   42.662   31.5    0.7    74   18.9 
2024-12-01 00:00 UT   18 35 12.2   -15 20 35    43.508   42.662   30.6    0.7    73   18.9 
2024-12-02 00:00 UT   18 35 18.1   -15 20 35    43.516   42.662   29.6    0.7    72   18.9 
2024-12-03 00:00 UT   18 35 24.0   -15 20 35    43.524   42.662   28.7    0.6    72   18.9 
2024-12-04 00:00 UT   18 35 30.0   -15 20 35    43.532   42.662   27.7    0.6    71   18.9 
2024-12-05 00:00 UT   18 35 36.0   -15 20 34    43.539   42.662   26.8    0.6    71   18.9 
2024-12-06 00:00 UT   18 35 42.1   -15 20 34    43.546   42.662   25.8    0.6    70   18.9 
2024-12-07 00:00 UT   18 35 48.2   -15 20 33    43.553   42.661   24.9    0.6    69   18.9 
2024-12-08 00:00 UT   18 35 54.4   -15 20 31    43.560   42.661   23.9    0.5    68   18.9 
2024-12-09 00:00 UT   18 36 00.5   -15 20 30    43.566   42.661   23.0    0.5    68   18.9 
2024-12-10 00:00 UT   18 36 06.8   -15 20 28    43.572   42.661   22.1    0.5    67   18.9 
2024-12-11 00:00 UT   18 36 13.0   -15 20 26    43.578   42.661   21.2    0.5    66   18.9 
2024-12-12 00:00 UT   18 36 19.3   -15 20 24    43.583   42.661   20.2    0.5    65   18.9 
2024-12-13 00:00 UT   18 36 25.6   -15 20 22    43.589   42.661   19.3    0.4    63   18.9 
2024-12-14 00:00 UT   18 36 31.9   -15 20 19    43.593   42.661   18.4    0.4    62   18.9 
2024-12-15 00:00 UT   18 36 38.3   -15 20 16    43.598   42.661   17.5    0.4    61   18.9 
2024-12-16 00:00 UT   18 36 44.7   -15 20 13    43.602   42.661   16.7    0.4    59   18.9 
2024-12-17 00:00 UT   18 36 51.1   -15 20 10    43.607   42.660   15.8    0.4    57   18.8 

    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.