Aster › Space program › Quaoar
Quaoar
Position on the route: 83/130 · level needed 365 · journey (Mk0 engine) 62.8 h
By the numbers
| Diameter | ≈ 1,100 km |
|---|---|
| Year | ≈ 288 years |
| Distance | ≈ 44 AU |
| Moon | Weywot |
The story
Quaoar is a Kuiper-belt object found by Mike Brown and Chad Trujillo in 2002; about 1,100 km across, it rivals Charon. It has a moon, Weywot. In 2023 stellar occultations revealed rings: far beyond the Roche limit, where theory says particles should clump into moons.
The find shook the old idea that rings can only exist ‘inside the Roche limit’. The surface carries crystalline water ice and possible methane; it may be ‘red’ and active.
Missions
- Hubble and CHEOPS occultation observations
- No mission planned
Colony note
No colony; an icy frontier outpost.
What probes bring back
- Its rings were found in 2023: far beyond the Roche limit, where theory says they should not exist.
- About 1,100 km across with a moon, Weywot; crystalline water ice and traces of methane on the surface.