136108 Haumea's 282.6-year orbit around the Sun will carry it to its closest point to the Sun – its perihelion – at a distance of 34.69 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 34.69 AU and 51.43 AU – a variation of over 48% – meaning that it receives 54% 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 South El Monte, at the moment of perihelion it will be visible between 22:47 and 03:56. It will become accessible at around 22:47, when it rises to an altitude of 21° above your south-eastern horizon. It will reach its highest point in the sky at 01:22, 32° above your southern horizon. It will become inaccessible at around 03:56 when it sinks below 21° above your south-western horizon.

A chart of the path of 136108 Haumea across the sky in 2133 can be found here, and a chart of its rising and setting times here.

The position of 136108 Haumea at the moment it passes perihelion will be:

The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.

The sky on 12 Jul 2026

Source

The circumstances of this event were computed using the DE440 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.

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Image credit

© Mike Brown et al., CalTech and Keck Observatory

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