(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	16 Sep 2025	18.9	42.636 AU	42.352 AU	18h36m	-15°06'	105.8°	1.3°
Opposition	3 Jul 2026	18.7	42.610 AU	41.603 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)                : 0.0366422
            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
2025-09-16 00:00 UT   18 36 43.7   -15 06 40    42.352   42.636  105.8    1.3    89   18.9 
2025-09-16 06:33 UT   18 36 43.5   -15 06 43    42.357   42.636  105.5    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 
2025-10-01 00:00 UT   18 36 46.3   -15 09 30    42.602   42.635   91.2    1.3    86   18.9 
2025-10-02 00:00 UT   18 36 47.3   -15 09 41    42.619   42.635   90.3    1.3    86   18.9 
2025-10-03 00:00 UT   18 36 48.3   -15 09 52    42.635   42.635   89.3    1.3    86   18.9 
2025-10-04 00:00 UT   18 36 49.5   -15 10 02    42.652   42.635   88.3    1.3    86   18.9 
2025-10-05 00:00 UT   18 36 50.7   -15 10 12    42.669   42.634   87.3    1.3    86   18.9 
2025-10-06 00:00 UT   18 36 52.1   -15 10 23    42.686   42.634   86.4    1.3    86   18.9 
2025-10-07 00:00 UT   18 36 53.5   -15 10 33    42.703   42.634   85.4    1.3    86   18.9 
2025-10-08 00:00 UT   18 36 55.0   -15 10 43    42.720   42.634   84.4    1.3    86   18.9 
2025-10-09 00:00 UT   18 36 56.7   -15 10 53    42.736   42.634   83.5    1.3    85   18.9 
2025-10-10 00:00 UT   18 36 58.4   -15 11 03    42.753   42.634   82.5    1.3    85   18.9 
2025-10-11 00:00 UT   18 37 00.2   -15 11 12    42.770   42.634   81.5    1.3    85   18.9 
2025-10-12 00:00 UT   18 37 02.2   -15 11 22    42.786   42.634   80.5    1.3    85   18.9 
2025-10-13 00:00 UT   18 37 04.2   -15 11 31    42.803   42.634   79.6    1.3    85   18.9 
2025-10-14 00:00 UT   18 37 06.3   -15 11 41    42.820   42.634   78.6    1.3    85   18.9 
2025-10-15 00:00 UT   18 37 08.5   -15 11 50    42.836   42.634   77.6    1.3    85   18.9 
2025-10-16 00:00 UT   18 37 10.8   -15 11 59    42.852   42.633   76.7    1.3    84   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.