(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	31 May 2025	18.8	42.646 AU	41.783 AU	18h43m	-14°53'	147.9°	0.7°
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
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   18 43 22.9   -14 53 07    41.783   42.646  147.9    0.7   252   18.8 
2025-05-31 23:40 UT   18 43 18.9   -14 53 06    41.775   42.646  148.9    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 
2025-06-07 00:00 UT   18 42 53.5   -14 53 00    41.728   42.645  154.4    0.6   248   18.8 
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   18 42 49.1   -14 53 00    41.721   42.645  155.4    0.6   247   18.8 
2025-06-09 00:00 UT   18 42 44.7   -14 53 00    41.714   42.645  156.3    0.5   247   18.8 
2025-06-10 00:00 UT   18 42 40.2   -14 53 01    41.708   42.645  157.2    0.5   246   18.8 
2025-06-11 00:00 UT   18 42 35.7   -14 53 01    41.701   42.645  158.1    0.5   245   18.8 
2025-06-12 00:00 UT   18 42 31.2   -14 53 02    41.695   42.645  159.0    0.5   244   18.8 
2025-06-13 00:00 UT   18 42 26.6   -14 53 03    41.690   42.645  159.9    0.5   243   18.8 
2025-06-14 00:00 UT   18 42 22.0   -14 53 04    41.685   42.645  160.8    0.4   241   18.8 
2025-06-15 00:00 UT   18 42 17.4   -14 53 06    41.679   42.645  161.6    0.4   240   18.8 
2025-06-16 00:00 UT   18 42 12.8   -14 53 07    41.675   42.644  162.5    0.4   239   18.8 
2025-06-17 00:00 UT   18 42 08.1   -14 53 09    41.670   42.644  163.3    0.4   237   18.8 
2025-06-18 00:00 UT   18 42 03.4   -14 53 11    41.666   42.644  164.2    0.4   235   18.8 
2025-06-19 00:00 UT   18 41 58.7   -14 53 14    41.662   42.644  165.0    0.4   233   18.7 
2025-06-20 00:00 UT   18 41 53.9   -14 53 16    41.658   42.644  165.8    0.3   231   18.7 
2025-06-21 00:00 UT   18 41 49.2   -14 53 19    41.655   42.644  166.6    0.3   229   18.7 
2025-06-22 00:00 UT   18 41 44.4   -14 53 22    41.652   42.644  167.3    0.3   226   18.7 
2025-06-23 00:00 UT   18 41 39.6   -14 53 25    41.649   42.644  168.1    0.3   223   18.7 
2025-06-24 00:00 UT   18 41 34.8   -14 53 28    41.646   42.644  168.8    0.3   220   18.7 
2025-06-25 00:00 UT   18 41 30.0   -14 53 32    41.644   42.644  169.4    0.3   216   18.7 
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   18 41 25.1   -14 53 36    41.642   42.644  170.0    0.2   211   18.7 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   18 41 20.3   -14 53 40    41.641   42.643  170.5    0.2   207   18.7 
2025-06-28 00:00 UT   18 41 15.4   -14 53 44    41.639   42.643  171.0    0.2   201   18.7 
2025-06-29 00:00 UT   18 41 10.6   -14 53 48    41.638   42.643  171.3    0.2   195   18.7 
2025-06-30 00:00 UT   18 41 05.7   -14 53 53    41.637   42.643  171.6    0.2   189   18.7 

    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.