(20000) Varuna
This object has a more recent orbit available here
Object
Object | (20000) Varuna |
Diameter(1) | 678 km |
Dynamic class(1) | cubewano |
Absolute magnitude | 3.79 |
G slop | 0.15 |
(1) Data from the johnston archive list.
Orbital elements
Epoch (Julian date) | 2459800.5 |
Semi major axis | 42.809022 ± 0.000488 au |
Eccentricity | 0.057788515 ± 0.000002545 |
Inclination | 17.186025225 ± 0.000039522 ° |
Longitude of ascending node | 97.307484 ± 0.000045 ° |
Argument of perihelia | 265.677084 ± 0.008990 ° |
Mean anomaly | 118.173004 ± 0.009565 ° |
Orbital period | 280.10 yr |
Ephemeris & Observations
Ephemeris version | NIMAv15 |
Observation file |
omc_ast_NIMAv15.txt |
bsp file | 20000_Varuna_nima_v15.bsp |
Date of first observation | 1954-11-24 |
Date of last observation | 2023-01-24 |
Number of observations used in the fit | 1240 |
Number of rejected observations | 8 |
Number of DES observations | 0 |
Number of MPC observations | 772 |
Number of unpublished observations | 476 |
RMS of observations | 0.236 arcsec |
Residuals

Residuals in right ascension and declination compared to NIMAv15 ephemeris.
Colours indicate the estimated precision in arcsec used as weights in the fitting process.
Orbit quality
date | σα (arcsec) | σδ (arcsec) |
2023-01 | 0.057 | 0.031 |
2023-07 | 0.047 | 0.031 |
2024-01 | 0.066 | 0.034 |
2024-07 | 0.056 | 0.034 |
2025-01 | 0.076 | 0.037 |
2025-07 | 0.065 | 0.037 |
2026-01 | 0.088 | 0.041 |
2026-07 | 0.076 | 0.040 |
2027-01 | 0.100 | 0.044 |
Ephemeris comparison

Difference between NIMAv15 and JPL56 in right ascension (weighted by cos δ) and in declination.
Gray area represents the 1-σ uncertainty of NIMA ephemeris. Green dots represent the DES observations.