(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Jan 2025	18.9	42.657 AU	43.583 AU	18h40m	-15°16'	19.6°	0.4°
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
2025-01-18 00:00 UT   18 40 18.8   -15 16 35    43.583   42.657   19.6    0.4   289   18.9 
2025-01-18 06:44 UT   18 40 20.6   -15 16 32    43.582   42.657   19.8    0.4   288   18.9 
2025-01-19 00:00 UT   18 40 25.1   -15 16 25    43.578   42.657   20.5    0.5   288   18.9 
2025-01-20 00:00 UT   18 40 31.3   -15 16 15    43.572   42.657   21.4    0.5   286   18.9 
2025-01-21 00:00 UT   18 40 37.5   -15 16 05    43.566   42.657   22.3    0.5   285   18.9 
2025-01-22 00:00 UT   18 40 43.7   -15 15 54    43.560   42.657   23.2    0.5   285   18.9 
2025-01-23 00:00 UT   18 40 49.8   -15 15 44    43.553   42.657   24.2    0.5   284   18.9 
2025-01-24 00:00 UT   18 40 55.9   -15 15 33    43.546   42.657   25.1    0.6   283   18.9 
2025-01-25 00:00 UT   18 41 01.9   -15 15 22    43.539   42.657   26.0    0.6   282   18.9 
2025-01-26 00:00 UT   18 41 08.0   -15 15 11    43.532   42.657   27.0    0.6   282   18.9 
2025-01-27 00:00 UT   18 41 13.9   -15 14 60    43.524   42.656   27.9    0.6   281   18.9 
2025-01-28 00:00 UT   18 41 19.9   -15 14 49    43.516   42.656   28.9    0.6   280   18.9 
2025-01-29 00:00 UT   18 41 25.7   -15 14 37    43.508   42.656   29.8    0.7   280   18.9 
2025-01-30 00:00 UT   18 41 31.6   -15 14 26    43.499   42.656   30.8    0.7   279   18.9 
2025-01-31 00:00 UT   18 41 37.4   -15 14 14    43.491   42.656   31.8    0.7   279   18.9 
2025-02-01 00:00 UT   18 41 43.1   -15 14 02    43.482   42.656   32.7    0.7   278   18.9 
2025-02-02 00:00 UT   18 41 48.8   -15 13 50    43.473   42.656   33.7    0.7   278   18.9 
2025-02-03 00:00 UT   18 41 54.4   -15 13 38    43.463   42.656   34.6    0.8   277   18.9 
2025-02-04 00:00 UT   18 41 60.0   -15 13 26    43.453   42.656   35.6    0.8   277   18.9 
2025-02-05 00:00 UT   18 42 05.5   -15 13 14    43.443   42.656   36.6    0.8   276   18.9 
2025-02-06 00:00 UT   18 42 11.0   -15 13 01    43.433   42.656   37.5    0.8   276   18.9 
2025-02-07 00:00 UT   18 42 16.4   -15 12 49    43.423   42.655   38.5    0.8   276   18.9 
2025-02-08 00:00 UT   18 42 21.7   -15 12 36    43.412   42.655   39.5    0.8   275   18.9 
2025-02-09 00:00 UT   18 42 27.0   -15 12 23    43.401   42.655   40.4    0.9   275   18.9 
2025-02-10 00:00 UT   18 42 32.2   -15 12 10    43.390   42.655   41.4    0.9   275   18.9 
2025-02-11 00:00 UT   18 42 37.4   -15 11 58    43.379   42.655   42.4    0.9   274   18.9 
2025-02-12 00:00 UT   18 42 42.5   -15 11 45    43.367   42.655   43.3    0.9   274   18.9 
2025-02-13 00:00 UT   18 42 47.5   -15 11 31    43.356   42.655   44.3    0.9   274   18.9 
2025-02-14 00:00 UT   18 42 52.4   -15 11 18    43.344   42.655   45.3    0.9   274   18.9 
2025-02-15 00:00 UT   18 42 57.3   -15 11 05    43.332   42.655   46.3    1.0   273   18.9 
2025-02-16 00:00 UT   18 43 02.2   -15 10 52    43.319   42.655   47.2    1.0   273   18.9 
2025-02-17 00:00 UT   18 43 06.9   -15 10 38    43.307   42.654   48.2    1.0   273   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.