• Key Information

  • Quaoar

  • Type
    Dwarf Planet
  • Diameter
    643 to 707 miles
  • Distance from Sun
    4,061,611,043 miles
  • Orbit Time
    288.83 years
  • Length of Day
    8.839 hours
  • Temperature
    -380 °F
  • Atmosphere
    None
  • Date of Discovery
    June 4, 2002
  • Moons
    1
  • Learning Point
  • An important discovery, Quaoar helped shape our understanding of the largest objects in the Kuiper belt, and how they are similar to and how they are different from the rocky planets.
  • Project
  • Create a list of some of the major dwarf planets and objects beyond the orbit of Neptune.
  • Location
  • Located in
    Solar System, orbiting the Sun
  • Fun Facts
  • Quaoar was one of the many objects discovered by Michael Brown, who also discovered its small moon Weywot.
  • Light from the sun takes an average of 5 hours to reach Quaoar.
  • We have found evidence of Quaoar in photographs dating back to 1954.
  • Quaoar can be pronounced as "KWA o wah" (three syllables) or "KWA wah" (two syllables), though Michael Brown uses the three syllable form of it.
  • The orbit and the angle of the orbit Quaoar has is thought to be because of Neptune, perhaps when Neptune may have moved through the Solar System in the past.