(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Oct 2025	18.9	42.633 AU	42.950 AU	18h37m	-15°12'	70.8°	1.3°
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)                : 0.0358352
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 43.1476667
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.99137
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 188.96329
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 163.92241
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 291.48220
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 173.03387
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.20650
            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
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   18 37 26.5   -15 12 50    42.950   42.633   70.8    1.3    83   18.9 
2025-10-22 05:12 UT   18 37 27.2   -15 12 52    42.953   42.633   70.6    1.3    83   18.9 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   18 37 29.5   -15 12 58    42.966   42.633   69.8    1.3    83   18.9 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   18 37 32.5   -15 13 05    42.981   42.633   68.9    1.2    83   18.9 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   18 37 35.7   -15 13 13    42.997   42.633   67.9    1.2    83   18.9 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   18 37 38.9   -15 13 21    43.012   42.633   66.9    1.2    83   18.9 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   18 37 42.2   -15 13 28    43.028   42.633   66.0    1.2    83   18.9 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   18 37 45.6   -15 13 35    43.043   42.632   65.0    1.2    83   18.9 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   18 37 49.1   -15 13 42    43.058   42.632   64.0    1.2    82   18.9 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   18 37 52.7   -15 13 48    43.073   42.632   63.0    1.2    82   18.9 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   18 37 56.3   -15 13 55    43.088   42.632   62.1    1.2    82   18.9 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   18 38 00.1   -15 14 01    43.103   42.632   61.1    1.2    82   18.9 
2025-11-02 00:00 UT   18 38 03.9   -15 14 07    43.118   42.632   60.1    1.2    82   18.9 
2025-11-03 00:00 UT   18 38 07.8   -15 14 13    43.132   42.632   59.1    1.1    81   18.9 
2025-11-04 00:00 UT   18 38 11.8   -15 14 19    43.147   42.632   58.2    1.1    81   18.9 
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   18 38 15.9   -15 14 25    43.161   42.632   57.2    1.1    81   18.9 
2025-11-06 00:00 UT   18 38 20.0   -15 14 30    43.175   42.632   56.2    1.1    81   18.9 
2025-11-07 00:00 UT   18 38 24.2   -15 14 35    43.189   42.632   55.3    1.1    81   18.9 
2025-11-08 00:00 UT   18 38 28.5   -15 14 40    43.202   42.631   54.3    1.1    80   18.9 
2025-11-09 00:00 UT   18 38 32.9   -15 14 45    43.216   42.631   53.3    1.1    80   18.9 
2025-11-10 00:00 UT   18 38 37.4   -15 14 50    43.229   42.631   52.3    1.1    80   18.9 
2025-11-11 00:00 UT   18 38 41.9   -15 14 54    43.242   42.631   51.4    1.0    80   18.9 
2025-11-12 00:00 UT   18 38 46.5   -15 14 58    43.255   42.631   50.4    1.0    80   18.9 
2025-11-13 00:00 UT   18 38 51.2   -15 15 02    43.268   42.631   49.4    1.0    79   18.9 
2025-11-14 00:00 UT   18 38 55.9   -15 15 06    43.281   42.631   48.5    1.0    79   18.9 
2025-11-15 00:00 UT   18 39 00.8   -15 15 10    43.293   42.631   47.5    1.0    79   18.9 
2025-11-16 00:00 UT   18 39 05.7   -15 15 13    43.305   42.631   46.5    1.0    79   18.9 
2025-11-17 00:00 UT   18 39 10.6   -15 15 16    43.317   42.631   45.5    0.9    78   18.9 
2025-11-18 00:00 UT   18 39 15.6   -15 15 19    43.329   42.631   44.6    0.9    78   18.9 
2025-11-19 00:00 UT   18 39 20.7   -15 15 22    43.341   42.631   43.6    0.9    78   18.9 
2025-11-20 00:00 UT   18 39 25.9   -15 15 24    43.352   42.630   42.6    0.9    77   18.9 
2025-11-21 00:00 UT   18 39 31.1   -15 15 26    43.363   42.630   41.7    0.9    77   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.