(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 May 2025	18.9	42.648 AU	42.061 AU	18h44m	-14°54'	125.0°	1.1°
Opposition	1 Jul 2025	18.7	42.643 AU	41.637 AU	18h40m	-14°54'	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)                : 0.0366460
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 43.1624836
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.99124
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 189.00492
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 163.79885
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 290.95455
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 172.95295
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.22297
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 283.57            
        

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
2025-05-07 00:00 UT   18 44 41.9   -14 54 53    42.061   42.648  125.0    1.1   260   18.9 
2025-05-07 02:23 UT   18 44 41.6   -14 54 52    42.060   42.648  125.1    1.1   260   18.9 
2025-05-08 00:00 UT   18 44 39.4   -14 54 46    42.047   42.648  126.0    1.1   260   18.9 
2025-05-09 00:00 UT   18 44 36.8   -14 54 39    42.033   42.648  127.0    1.1   259   18.8 
2025-05-10 00:00 UT   18 44 34.2   -14 54 33    42.020   42.648  127.9    1.1   259   18.8 
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   18 44 31.5   -14 54 27    42.007   42.648  128.9    1.1   259   18.8 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   18 44 28.7   -14 54 21    41.993   42.648  129.8    1.0   259   18.8 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   18 44 25.9   -14 54 15    41.981   42.648  130.8    1.0   258   18.8 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   18 44 22.9   -14 54 09    41.968   42.648  131.8    1.0   258   18.8 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   18 44 19.9   -14 54 04    41.955   42.647  132.7    1.0   258   18.8 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   18 44 16.9   -14 53 59    41.943   42.647  133.7    1.0   258   18.8 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   18 44 13.7   -14 53 54    41.931   42.647  134.6    1.0   257   18.8 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   18 44 10.5   -14 53 49    41.919   42.647  135.6    1.0   257   18.8 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   18 44 07.2   -14 53 44    41.907   42.647  136.5    0.9   257   18.8 
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   18 44 03.9   -14 53 40    41.895   42.647  137.5    0.9   257   18.8 
2025-05-21 00:00 UT   18 44 00.5   -14 53 36    41.884   42.647  138.5    0.9   256   18.8 
2025-05-22 00:00 UT   18 43 57.0   -14 53 32    41.873   42.647  139.4    0.9   256   18.8 
2025-05-23 00:00 UT   18 43 53.4   -14 53 29    41.862   42.647  140.4    0.9   256   18.8 
2025-05-24 00:00 UT   18 43 49.8   -14 53 25    41.852   42.647  141.3    0.9   255   18.8 
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   18 43 46.1   -14 53 22    41.841   42.647  142.3    0.8   255   18.8 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   18 43 42.4   -14 53 19    41.831   42.646  143.2    0.8   255   18.8 
2025-05-27 00:00 UT   18 43 38.6   -14 53 16    41.821   42.646  144.2    0.8   254   18.8 
2025-05-28 00:00 UT   18 43 34.8   -14 53 14    41.811   42.646  145.1    0.8   254   18.8 
2025-05-29 00:00 UT   18 43 30.9   -14 53 11    41.802   42.646  146.0    0.8   253   18.8 
2025-05-30 00:00 UT   18 43 26.9   -14 53 09    41.792   42.646  147.0    0.7   253   18.8 
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   18 43 22.9   -14 53 07    41.783   42.646  147.9    0.7   252   18.8 
2025-06-01 00:00 UT   18 43 18.8   -14 53 06    41.775   42.646  148.9    0.7   252   18.8 
2025-06-02 00:00 UT   18 43 14.7   -14 53 04    41.766   42.646  149.8    0.7   251   18.8 
2025-06-03 00:00 UT   18 43 10.5   -14 53 03    41.758   42.646  150.7    0.7   251   18.8 
2025-06-04 00:00 UT   18 43 06.3   -14 53 02    41.750   42.646  151.7    0.6   250   18.8 
2025-06-05 00:00 UT   18 43 02.1   -14 53 01    41.742   42.645  152.6    0.6   250   18.8 
2025-06-06 00:00 UT   18 42 57.8   -14 53 01    41.735   42.645  153.5    0.6   249   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.