About Quaoar
50000 Quaoar is a large classical Kuiper Belt Object (cubewano) with one known moon, Weywot. In 2023 a stellar-occultation campaign discovered two narrow rings around Quaoar — the first ring system detected outside the giant-planet region of the Solar System. Intriguingly, the rings sit well outside the classical Roche limit, challenging our understanding of how rings form and persist.
Physical Properties
Orbit
Ring System
Two narrow rings discovered in 2023 via stellar occultations — both lie well beyond the classical Roche limit.
Notable Moons
Gallery
Hand-picked mission imagery of Quaoar sourced from NASA and partner archives. Click any photo for full resolution and source attribution.
Imagery on this page is provided by the original mission teams. Full attribution terms: Image Rights & Credits.
Sources & Further Reading
- Wikipedia — extensive cross-referenced article
- Morgado et al., Nature 2023 u2014 A dense ring of the trans-Neptunian object Quaoar (2023)
Numerical values (radius, mass, orbital elements, temperatures) are drawn from NASA NSSDC Planetary Fact Sheets, JPL Horizons, and the JPL Small-Body Database. Last refreshed: 2026-06-08 01:37:02.