2021-07-23, 08:43 AM
Dwarf Planet Quaoar
Here is an image of the Dwarf Planet Quaoar (mag 18.88) taken from our back yard in Brisbane on 19th July. (90x30 sec).
Quaoar is a planetoid that lies beyond Pluto's orbit in the solar system. Quaoar was discovered on June 4th, 2002 by astronomers Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, using images that were obtained with the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory. The discovery was announced on October 7th, 2002, at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. At the time, the object was designated as 2002 LM60, but would soon be renamed by Brown and Caltech his team.
Quaoar lurks in the Kuiper Belt, a group of icy objects beyond Neptune. It is about 42 astronomical units, or Earth-sun distances, away. That's about 4 billion miles (6 billion km) — a billion kilometres more distant than Neptune. It takes about 288 years for Quaoar to go once around the sun in a roughly circular orbit.
Quaoar has only one moon, called Weywot. it orbits around Quaoar at an approximate 9000 mile distance.
Some SkyTools Data:
(50000) Quaoar
Minor Planet, Dwarf Planet
Magnitude: 18.88
Orbit Period: 288.3 years
Diameter: 590 - 1900 km
Current Status:
Earth Distance: 41.9 AU
Total motion: 2.66 "/hr PA 264.0°
Cheers
Dennis
Here is an image of the Dwarf Planet Quaoar (mag 18.88) taken from our back yard in Brisbane on 19th July. (90x30 sec).
Quaoar is a planetoid that lies beyond Pluto's orbit in the solar system. Quaoar was discovered on June 4th, 2002 by astronomers Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, using images that were obtained with the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory. The discovery was announced on October 7th, 2002, at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. At the time, the object was designated as 2002 LM60, but would soon be renamed by Brown and Caltech his team.
Quaoar lurks in the Kuiper Belt, a group of icy objects beyond Neptune. It is about 42 astronomical units, or Earth-sun distances, away. That's about 4 billion miles (6 billion km) — a billion kilometres more distant than Neptune. It takes about 288 years for Quaoar to go once around the sun in a roughly circular orbit.
Quaoar has only one moon, called Weywot. it orbits around Quaoar at an approximate 9000 mile distance.
Some SkyTools Data:
(50000) Quaoar
Minor Planet, Dwarf Planet
Magnitude: 18.88
Orbit Period: 288.3 years
Diameter: 590 - 1900 km
Current Status:
Earth Distance: 41.9 AU
Total motion: 2.66 "/hr PA 264.0°
Cheers
Dennis