(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	1 Jul 2025	18.7	42.643 AU	41.637 AU	18h40m	-14°53'	171.8°	0.2°
Today	31 Aug 2025	18.8	42.638 AU	42.106 AU	18h37m	-15°03'	121.2°	1.2°

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)                : 0.0366422
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 43.1628743
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.99125
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 189.00522
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 163.78626
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 290.96617
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 172.94077
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.22466
            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
2025-08-31 00:00 UT   18 37 04.3   -15 03 29    42.106   42.638  121.2    1.2    91   18.8 
2025-08-31 20:47 UT   18 37 02.6   -15 03 39    42.119   42.638  120.3    1.2    91   18.9 
2025-09-01 00:00 UT   18 37 02.3   -15 03 41    42.121   42.638  120.2    1.2    91   18.9 
2025-09-02 00:00 UT   18 37 00.5   -15 03 53    42.135   42.637  119.3    1.2    91   18.9 
2025-09-03 00:00 UT   18 36 58.7   -15 04 05    42.150   42.637  118.3    1.2    91   18.9 
2025-09-04 00:00 UT   18 36 57.0   -15 04 17    42.165   42.637  117.3    1.2    91   18.9 
2025-09-05 00:00 UT   18 36 55.4   -15 04 29    42.180   42.637  116.4    1.2    90   18.9 
2025-09-06 00:00 UT   18 36 53.9   -15 04 41    42.195   42.637  115.4    1.2    90   18.9 
2025-09-07 00:00 UT   18 36 52.4   -15 04 53    42.210   42.637  114.4    1.2    90   18.9 
2025-09-08 00:00 UT   18 36 51.1   -15 05 05    42.226   42.637  113.5    1.2    90   18.9 
2025-09-09 00:00 UT   18 36 49.8   -15 05 17    42.241   42.637  112.5    1.3    90   18.9 
2025-09-10 00:00 UT   18 36 48.7   -15 05 29    42.257   42.637  111.5    1.3    90   18.9 
2025-09-11 00:00 UT   18 36 47.6   -15 05 41    42.272   42.637  110.6    1.3    89   18.9 
2025-09-12 00:00 UT   18 36 46.6   -15 05 53    42.288   42.637  109.6    1.3    89   18.9 
2025-09-13 00:00 UT   18 36 45.8   -15 06 05    42.304   42.636  108.7    1.3    89   18.9 
2025-09-14 00:00 UT   18 36 45.0   -15 06 17    42.320   42.636  107.7    1.3    89   18.9 
2025-09-15 00:00 UT   18 36 44.3   -15 06 28    42.336   42.636  106.7    1.3    89   18.9 
2025-09-16 00:00 UT   18 36 43.7   -15 06 40    42.352   42.636  105.8    1.3    89   18.9 
2025-09-17 00:00 UT   18 36 43.2   -15 06 52    42.368   42.636  104.8    1.3    88   18.9 
2025-09-18 00:00 UT   18 36 42.8   -15 07 04    42.385   42.636  103.8    1.3    88   18.9 
2025-09-19 00:00 UT   18 36 42.5   -15 07 15    42.401   42.636  102.9    1.3    88   18.9 
2025-09-20 00:00 UT   18 36 42.2   -15 07 27    42.418   42.636  101.9    1.3    88   18.9 
2025-09-21 00:00 UT   18 36 42.1   -15 07 39    42.434   42.636  100.9    1.3    88   18.9 
2025-09-22 00:00 UT   18 36 42.1   -15 07 50    42.451   42.636   99.9    1.3    88   18.9 
2025-09-23 00:00 UT   18 36 42.2   -15 08 02    42.467   42.636   99.0    1.3    88   18.9 
2025-09-24 00:00 UT   18 36 42.4   -15 08 13    42.484   42.635   98.0    1.3    87   18.9 
2025-09-25 00:00 UT   18 36 42.6   -15 08 24    42.501   42.635   97.0    1.3    87   18.9 
2025-09-26 00:00 UT   18 36 43.0   -15 08 35    42.518   42.635   96.1    1.3    87   18.9 
2025-09-27 00:00 UT   18 36 43.5   -15 08 47    42.534   42.635   95.1    1.3    87   18.9 
2025-09-28 00:00 UT   18 36 44.0   -15 08 58    42.551   42.635   94.1    1.3    87   18.9 
2025-09-29 00:00 UT   18 36 44.7   -15 09 09    42.568   42.635   93.2    1.3    87   18.9 
2025-09-30 00:00 UT   18 36 45.5   -15 09 20    42.585   42.635   92.2    1.3    87   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.