Orbit
Quaoar orbits at about 43 astronomical units (6.4×109 km; 4.0×109 mi) from the Sun with an orbital period of 286 years.
The orbit is near-circular and moderately-inclined at approximately 8°, typical for the population of small classical Kuiper-belt objects (KBO) but exceptional among the large KBO. Varuna, Haumea, and Makemake are all on highly inclined, more eccentric orbits.
Quaoar is the largest body that is classified as a cubewano by both the Minor Planet Center and the Deep Ecliptic Survey.
The polar view compares the near-circular Quaoar's orbit to highly eccentric (e=0.25) orbit of Pluto (Quaoar’s orbit in blue, Pluto’s in red, Neptune in grey). The spheres illustrate the current (April 2006) positions, relative sizes and colours. The perihelia (q), aphelia (Q) and the dates of passage are also marked.
At 43 AU and a near-circular orbit, Quaoar is not significantly perturbed by Neptune, unlike Pluto which is in 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune. The ecliptic view illustrates the relative inclinations of the orbits of Quaoar and Pluto. Note that Pluto's aphelion is beyond (and below) Quaoar's orbit, so that Pluto is closer to the Sun than Quaoar at some times of its orbit, and farther at others.
As of 2008, Quaoar is currently only 14 AU from Pluto making it the closest large body to the Pluto–Charon system. By Kuiper Belt standards this is very close.
Read more about this topic: 50000 Quaoar
Famous quotes containing the word orbit:
“The Fitchburg Railroad touches the pond about a hundred rods south of where I dwell. I usually go to the village along its causeway, and am, as it were, related to society by this link. The men on the freight trains, who go over the whole length of the road, bow to me as to an old acquaintance, they pass me so often, and apparently they take me for an employee; and so I am. I too would fain be a track-repairer somewhere in the orbit of the earth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The human spirit is itself the most wonderful fairy tale that can possibly be. What a magnificent world lies enclosed within our bosoms! No solar orbit hems it in, the inexhaustible wealth of the total visible creation is outweighed by its riches!”
—E.T.A.W. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Wilhelm)
““To my thinking” boomed the Professor, begging the question as usual, “the greatest triumph of the human mind was the calculation of Neptune from the observed vagaries of the orbit of Uranus.”
“And yours,” said the P.B.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)