136108 Haumea's 281.0-year orbit around the Sun will carry it to its furthest point to the Sun – its aphelion – at a distance of 51.45 AU.
Unlike most of the planets, which follow almost exactly circular orbits around the Sun which only vary in their distance from the Sun by a few percent, 136108 Haumea has a significantly elliptical orbit. Its distance from the Sun varies between 34.35 AU and 51.45 AU – a variation of over 49% – meaning that it receives 55% less heat and light from the Sun at aphelion as compared to perihelion.
Finding 136108 Haumea
136108 Haumea's distance from the Sun doesn't affect its appearance. From Cambridge, at the moment of aphelion it will not be observable – it will reach its highest point in the sky during daytime and will be no higher than 16° above the horizon at dawn.
A chart of the path of 136108 Haumea across the sky in 1992 can be found here, and a chart of its rising and setting times here.
The position of 136108 Haumea at the moment it passes aphelion will be:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Magnitude | Angular Size |
| 136108 Haumea | 12h40m20s | 21°52'N | Coma Berenices | 17.5 | 0.0" |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.
The sky on 17 May 2024
| The sky on 17 May 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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70% 9 days old |
All times shown in EDT.
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Source
The circumstances of this event were computed using the DE430 planetary ephemeris published by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
This event was automatically generated by searching the ephemeris for planetary alignments which are of interest to amateur astronomers, and the text above was generated based on an estimate of your location.
Related news
| 19 Mar 1992 | – 136108 Haumea at opposition |
| 20 Mar 1993 | – 136108 Haumea at opposition |
| 21 Mar 1994 | – 136108 Haumea at opposition |
| 22 Mar 1995 | – 136108 Haumea at opposition |
Image credit
© Mike Brown et al., CalTech and Keck Observatory