(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	1 May 2026	18.9	42.616 AU	42.138 AU	18h50m	-14°49'	117.7°	1.2°
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
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   18 50 21.3   -14 49 37    42.138   42.616  117.7    1.2   261   18.9 
2026-05-01 13:35 UT   18 50 20.3   -14 49 32    42.130   42.616  118.2    1.2   261   18.9 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   18 50 19.5   -14 49 29    42.123   42.616  118.7    1.2   261   18.9 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   18 50 17.6   -14 49 21    42.109   42.616  119.6    1.2   260   18.9 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   18 50 15.5   -14 49 14    42.094   42.616  120.6    1.2   260   18.8 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   18 50 13.5   -14 49 06    42.079   42.616  121.5    1.2   260   18.8 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   18 50 11.3   -14 48 59    42.065   42.615  122.5    1.1   260   18.8 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   18 50 09.0   -14 48 52    42.051   42.615  123.5    1.1   260   18.8 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   18 50 06.7   -14 48 45    42.037   42.615  124.4    1.1   259   18.8 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   18 50 04.3   -14 48 39    42.023   42.615  125.4    1.1   259   18.8 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   18 50 01.8   -14 48 32    42.009   42.615  126.4    1.1   259   18.8 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   18 49 59.2   -14 48 26    41.995   42.615  127.3    1.1   259   18.8 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   18 49 56.5   -14 48 20    41.982   42.615  128.3    1.1   259   18.8 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   18 49 53.8   -14 48 14    41.969   42.615  129.2    1.1   258   18.8 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   18 49 51.0   -14 48 09    41.955   42.615  130.2    1.0   258   18.8 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   18 49 48.1   -14 48 04    41.943   42.615  131.2    1.0   258   18.8 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   18 49 45.1   -14 47 59    41.930   42.615  132.1    1.0   258   18.8 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   18 49 42.1   -14 47 54    41.917   42.615  133.1    1.0   257   18.8 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   18 49 39.0   -14 47 49    41.905   42.614  134.0    1.0   257   18.8 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   18 49 35.8   -14 47 45    41.893   42.614  135.0    1.0   257   18.8 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   18 49 32.6   -14 47 41    41.881   42.614  136.0    0.9   257   18.8 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   18 49 29.3   -14 47 37    41.870   42.614  136.9    0.9   256   18.8 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   18 49 25.9   -14 47 33    41.858   42.614  137.9    0.9   256   18.8 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   18 49 22.4   -14 47 30    41.847   42.614  138.8    0.9   256   18.8 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   18 49 18.9   -14 47 26    41.836   42.614  139.8    0.9   255   18.8 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   18 49 15.3   -14 47 23    41.825   42.614  140.7    0.9   255   18.8 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   18 49 11.7   -14 47 20    41.815   42.614  141.7    0.8   255   18.8 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   18 49 08.0   -14 47 18    41.804   42.614  142.6    0.8   254   18.8 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   18 49 04.2   -14 47 16    41.794   42.614  143.6    0.8   254   18.8 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   18 49 00.4   -14 47 13    41.784   42.613  144.5    0.8   254   18.8 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   18 48 56.6   -14 47 12    41.775   42.613  145.5    0.8   253   18.8 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   18 48 52.6   -14 47 10    41.765   42.613  146.4    0.8   253   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.