Physical Characteristics
With a density estimated to be around 4.2±1.3 g/cm3, Quaoar is believed to be a mixture of mostly rock with some ice and is possibly the densest known object in the Kuiper belt. Even dwarf planet Haumea is only estimated to have a density of 2.6 g/cm3. The albedo could be as low as 0.1, which would still be much higher than the lower estimate of 0.04 for Varuna. This may indicate that fresh ice has disappeared from Quaoar's surface. The surface is moderately red, meaning that the object is relatively more reflective in the red and near-infrared than in the blue. 20000 Varuna and 28978 Ixion are also moderately red in the spectral class. Larger KBOs are often much brighter because they are covered in more fresh ice and have a higher albedo, and thus they present a neutral colour (see colour comparison).
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