(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Dec 2024	18.8	42.660 AU	43.610 AU	18h36m	-15°20'	14.9°	0.3°
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
2024-12-18 00:00 UT   18 36 57.5   -15 20 07    43.610   42.660   14.9    0.3    55   18.8 
2024-12-18 23:45 UT   18 37 03.9   -15 20 03    43.614   42.660   14.1    0.3    53   18.8 
2024-12-19 00:00 UT   18 37 04.0   -15 20 03    43.614   42.660   14.1    0.3    53   18.8 
2024-12-20 00:00 UT   18 37 10.4   -15 19 59    43.617   42.660   13.3    0.3    51   18.8 
2024-12-21 00:00 UT   18 37 16.9   -15 19 55    43.620   42.660   12.5    0.3    48   18.8 
2024-12-22 00:00 UT   18 37 23.4   -15 19 51    43.623   42.660   11.8    0.3    45   18.8 
2024-12-23 00:00 UT   18 37 29.9   -15 19 46    43.625   42.660   11.0    0.3    42   18.8 
2024-12-24 00:00 UT   18 37 36.5   -15 19 41    43.627   42.660   10.4    0.2    38   18.8 
2024-12-25 00:00 UT   18 37 43.0   -15 19 36    43.629   42.660    9.7    0.2    33   18.8 
2024-12-26 00:00 UT   18 37 49.6   -15 19 31    43.630   42.660    9.2    0.2    28   18.8 
2024-12-27 00:00 UT   18 37 56.1   -15 19 26    43.631   42.660    8.7    0.2    23   18.8 
2024-12-28 00:00 UT   18 38 02.7   -15 19 20    43.632   42.659    8.3    0.2    16   18.8 
2024-12-29 00:00 UT   18 38 09.2   -15 19 14    43.633   42.659    8.0    0.2    10   18.8 
2024-12-30 00:00 UT   18 38 15.8   -15 19 08    43.633   42.659    7.9    0.2     3   18.8 
2024-12-31 00:00 UT   18 38 22.4   -15 19 02    43.633   42.659    7.8    0.2   355   18.8 
2025-01-01 00:00 UT   18 38 29.0   -15 18 55    43.633   42.659    7.9    0.2   348   18.8 
2025-01-02 00:00 UT   18 38 35.5   -15 18 48    43.632   42.659    8.1    0.2   341   18.8 
2025-01-03 00:00 UT   18 38 42.1   -15 18 42    43.631   42.659    8.4    0.2   334   18.8 
2025-01-04 00:00 UT   18 38 48.6   -15 18 34    43.630   42.659    8.8    0.2   328   18.8 
2025-01-05 00:00 UT   18 38 55.2   -15 18 27    43.629   42.659    9.3    0.2   323   18.8 
2025-01-06 00:00 UT   18 39 01.7   -15 18 20    43.627   42.659    9.9    0.2   318   18.8 
2025-01-07 00:00 UT   18 39 08.2   -15 18 12    43.625   42.658   10.5    0.2   314   18.8 
2025-01-08 00:00 UT   18 39 14.8   -15 18 04    43.623   42.658   11.2    0.3   310   18.8 
2025-01-09 00:00 UT   18 39 21.2   -15 17 56    43.620   42.658   11.9    0.3   307   18.8 
2025-01-10 00:00 UT   18 39 27.7   -15 17 48    43.617   42.658   12.7    0.3   304   18.8 
2025-01-11 00:00 UT   18 39 34.2   -15 17 39    43.614   42.658   13.5    0.3   301   18.8 
2025-01-12 00:00 UT   18 39 40.6   -15 17 30    43.610   42.658   14.3    0.3   299   18.8 
2025-01-13 00:00 UT   18 39 47.1   -15 17 22    43.606   42.658   15.1    0.3   296   18.8 
2025-01-14 00:00 UT   18 39 53.5   -15 17 13    43.602   42.658   16.0    0.4   295   18.8 
2025-01-15 00:00 UT   18 39 59.8   -15 17 03    43.598   42.658   16.9    0.4   293   18.9 
2025-01-16 00:00 UT   18 40 06.2   -15 16 54    43.593   42.658   17.8    0.4   291   18.9 
2025-01-17 00:00 UT   18 40 12.5   -15 16 44    43.588   42.657   18.6    0.4   290   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.