(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	10 Mar 2026	18.9	42.621 AU	42.996 AU	18h49m	-15°00'	67.2°	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
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   18 49 46.9   -15 00 00    42.996   42.621   67.2    1.2   268   18.9 
2026-03-10 07:22 UT   18 49 47.9   -14 59 56    42.991   42.621   67.5    1.2   268   18.9 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   18 49 50.0   -14 59 46    42.981   42.620   68.1    1.2   268   18.9 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   18 49 53.0   -14 59 31    42.965   42.620   69.1    1.2   268   18.9 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   18 49 55.9   -14 59 17    42.949   42.620   70.1    1.3   268   18.9 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   18 49 58.7   -14 59 03    42.933   42.620   71.1    1.3   268   18.9 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   18 50 01.4   -14 58 49    42.916   42.620   72.0    1.3   268   18.9 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   18 50 04.1   -14 58 35    42.900   42.620   73.0    1.3   267   18.9 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   18 50 06.6   -14 58 20    42.884   42.620   74.0    1.3   267   18.9 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   18 50 09.0   -14 58 06    42.867   42.620   75.0    1.3   267   18.9 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   18 50 11.4   -14 57 52    42.851   42.620   75.9    1.3   267   18.9 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   18 50 13.7   -14 57 38    42.834   42.620   76.9    1.3   267   18.9 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   18 50 15.8   -14 57 25    42.818   42.620   77.9    1.3   267   18.9 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   18 50 17.9   -14 57 11    42.801   42.620   78.9    1.3   267   18.9 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   18 50 19.8   -14 56 57    42.784   42.619   79.8    1.3   266   18.9 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   18 50 21.7   -14 56 43    42.767   42.619   80.8    1.3   266   18.9 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   18 50 23.5   -14 56 30    42.750   42.619   81.8    1.3   266   18.9 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   18 50 25.2   -14 56 16    42.733   42.619   82.8    1.3   266   18.9 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   18 50 26.8   -14 56 03    42.716   42.619   83.7    1.3   266   18.9 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   18 50 28.2   -14 55 50    42.699   42.619   84.7    1.3   266   18.9 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   18 50 29.6   -14 55 37    42.682   42.619   85.7    1.3   266   18.9 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   18 50 30.9   -14 55 23    42.665   42.619   86.7    1.3   265   18.9 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   18 50 32.1   -14 55 10    42.648   42.619   87.6    1.3   265   18.9 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   18 50 33.2   -14 54 58    42.631   42.619   88.6    1.3   265   18.9 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   18 50 34.2   -14 54 45    42.614   42.619   89.6    1.3   265   18.9 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   18 50 35.1   -14 54 32    42.597   42.618   90.5    1.3   265   18.9 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   18 50 35.9   -14 54 20    42.580   42.618   91.5    1.3   265   18.9 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   18 50 36.6   -14 54 07    42.563   42.618   92.5    1.3   265   18.9 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   18 50 37.2   -14 53 55    42.546   42.618   93.5    1.3   264   18.9 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   18 50 37.7   -14 53 43    42.529   42.618   94.4    1.3   264   18.9 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   18 50 38.2   -14 53 31    42.512   42.618   95.4    1.3   264   18.9 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   18 50 38.5   -14 53 19    42.495   42.618   96.4    1.3   264   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.