(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Apr 2024	18.9	42.684 AU	42.327 AU	18h39m	-15°02'	110.2°	1.3°
Opposition	29 Jun 2024	18.7	42.677 AU	41.671 AU	18h35m	-14°59'	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
2024-04-20 00:00 UT   18 39 46.0   -15 02 49    42.327   42.684  110.2    1.3   263   18.9 
2024-04-20 05:29 UT   18 39 45.8   -15 02 46    42.323   42.684  110.4    1.3   263   18.9 
2024-04-21 00:00 UT   18 39 44.9   -15 02 39    42.311   42.684  111.1    1.3   263   18.9 
2024-04-22 00:00 UT   18 39 43.7   -15 02 29    42.295   42.684  112.1    1.3   263   18.9 
2024-04-23 00:00 UT   18 39 42.4   -15 02 20    42.280   42.684  113.1    1.2   263   18.9 
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   18 39 41.0   -15 02 10    42.264   42.684  114.0    1.2   262   18.9 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   18 39 39.5   -15 02 01    42.248   42.683  115.0    1.2   262   18.9 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   18 39 37.9   -15 01 52    42.233   42.683  116.0    1.2   262   18.9 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   18 39 36.3   -15 01 43    42.218   42.683  116.9    1.2   262   18.9 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   18 39 34.5   -15 01 34    42.203   42.683  117.9    1.2   262   18.9 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   18 39 32.7   -15 01 26    42.188   42.683  118.9    1.2   262   18.9 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   18 39 30.7   -15 01 17    42.173   42.683  119.8    1.2   261   18.9 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   18 39 28.7   -15 01 09    42.158   42.683  120.8    1.2   261   18.9 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   18 39 26.6   -15 01 01    42.143   42.683  121.8    1.2   261   18.9 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   18 39 24.5   -15 00 53    42.129   42.683  122.7    1.1   261   18.9 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   18 39 22.2   -15 00 46    42.115   42.683  123.7    1.1   261   18.9 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   18 39 19.8   -15 00 38    42.101   42.682  124.7    1.1   260   18.9 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   18 39 17.4   -15 00 31    42.087   42.682  125.6    1.1   260   18.9 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   18 39 14.9   -15 00 24    42.073   42.682  126.6    1.1   260   18.9 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   18 39 12.3   -15 00 17    42.059   42.682  127.6    1.1   260   18.9 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   18 39 09.6   -15 00 10    42.046   42.682  128.5    1.1   260   18.8 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   18 39 06.9   -15 00 04    42.033   42.682  129.5    1.0   259   18.8 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   18 39 04.1   -14 59 58    42.020   42.682  130.4    1.0   259   18.8 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   18 39 01.2   -14 59 51    42.007   42.682  131.4    1.0   259   18.8 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   18 38 58.2   -14 59 46    41.994   42.682  132.4    1.0   259   18.8 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   18 38 55.1   -14 59 40    41.982   42.682  133.3    1.0   258   18.8 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   18 38 52.0   -14 59 34    41.970   42.681  134.3    1.0   258   18.8 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   18 38 48.8   -14 59 29    41.958   42.681  135.2    1.0   258   18.8 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   18 38 45.6   -14 59 24    41.946   42.681  136.2    0.9   258   18.8 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   18 38 42.3   -14 59 19    41.934   42.681  137.1    0.9   257   18.8 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   18 38 38.9   -14 59 15    41.923   42.681  138.1    0.9   257   18.8 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   18 38 35.4   -14 59 10    41.912   42.681  139.1    0.9   257   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.