(50000) Quaoar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	1 Jul 2025	18.7	42.643 AU	41.637 AU	18h40m	-14°53'	171.8°	0.2°
Today	12 Jul 2025	18.7	42.642 AU	41.650 AU	18h40m	-14°55'	167.3°	0.3°

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
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   18 40 07.8   -14 55 03    41.650   42.642  167.3    0.3   126   18.7 
2025-07-12 06:25 UT   18 40 06.5   -14 55 05    41.651   42.642  167.1    0.3   125   18.7 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   18 40 03.0   -14 55 10    41.653   42.642  166.5    0.3   123   18.7 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   18 39 58.3   -14 55 17    41.656   42.642  165.7    0.3   120   18.7 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   18 39 53.5   -14 55 24    41.660   42.642  164.9    0.4   118   18.7 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   18 39 48.8   -14 55 32    41.663   42.642  164.1    0.4   116   18.7 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   18 39 44.2   -14 55 39    41.667   42.642  163.3    0.4   115   18.7 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   18 39 39.5   -14 55 47    41.672   42.642  162.4    0.4   113   18.7 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   18 39 34.9   -14 55 55    41.676   42.642  161.6    0.4   112   18.7 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   18 39 30.3   -14 56 03    41.681   42.641  160.7    0.5   110   18.8 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   18 39 25.8   -14 56 12    41.686   42.641  159.8    0.5   109   18.8 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   18 39 21.2   -14 56 20    41.692   42.641  158.9    0.5   108   18.8 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   18 39 16.8   -14 56 29    41.697   42.641  158.0    0.5   107   18.8 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   18 39 12.3   -14 56 38    41.703   42.641  157.1    0.5   106   18.8 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   18 39 07.9   -14 56 46    41.710   42.641  156.2    0.6   105   18.8 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   18 39 03.5   -14 56 56    41.716   42.641  155.3    0.6   104   18.8 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   18 38 59.2   -14 57 05    41.723   42.641  154.4    0.6   103   18.8 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   18 38 54.9   -14 57 14    41.730   42.641  153.5    0.6   103   18.8 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   18 38 50.6   -14 57 24    41.737   42.641  152.5    0.6   102   18.8 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   18 38 46.4   -14 57 33    41.745   42.641  151.6    0.6   101   18.8 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   18 38 42.3   -14 57 43    41.753   42.640  150.7    0.7   101   18.8 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   18 38 38.2   -14 57 53    41.761   42.640  149.7    0.7   100   18.8 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   18 38 34.1   -14 58 03    41.769   42.640  148.8    0.7   100   18.8 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   18 38 30.1   -14 58 13    41.778   42.640  147.9    0.7    99   18.8 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   18 38 26.2   -14 58 23    41.786   42.640  146.9    0.7    99   18.8 
2025-08-05 00:00 UT   18 38 22.3   -14 58 33    41.795   42.640  146.0    0.8    98   18.8 
2025-08-06 00:00 UT   18 38 18.4   -14 58 44    41.805   42.640  145.0    0.8    98   18.8 
2025-08-07 00:00 UT   18 38 14.7   -14 58 54    41.814   42.640  144.1    0.8    98   18.8 
2025-08-08 00:00 UT   18 38 10.9   -14 59 05    41.824   42.640  143.2    0.8    97   18.8 
2025-08-09 00:00 UT   18 38 07.3   -14 59 15    41.834   42.640  142.2    0.8    97   18.8 
2025-08-10 00:00 UT   18 38 03.7   -14 59 26    41.844   42.640  141.3    0.9    96   18.8 
2025-08-11 00:00 UT   18 38 00.1   -14 59 37    41.855   42.639  140.3    0.9    96   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.