(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 | 3.60 |
G slop | 0.15 |
(1) Data from the johnston archive list.
Orbital elements
Epoch (Julian date) | 2458600.5 |
Semi major axis | 42.780323 ± 0.000551 au |
Eccentricity | 0.054122517 ± 0.000002334 |
Inclination | 17.219690016 ± 0.000098987 ° |
Longitude of ascending node | 97.369328 ± 0.000144 ° |
Argument of perihelia | 262.855875 ± 0.011381 ° |
Mean anomaly | 117.244524 ± 0.011823 ° |
Orbital period | 279.82 yr |
Ephemeris & Observations
Ephemeris version | NIMAv13 |
Observation file |
omc_ast_NIMAv13.txt |
bsp file | 20000_Varuna_nima_v13.bsp |
Date of first observation | 1954-11-24 |
Date of last observation | 2021-03-26 |
Number of observations used in the fit | 1146 |
Number of rejected observations | 8 |
Number of DES observations | 0 |
Number of MPC observations | 678 |
Number of unpublished observations | 476 |
RMS of observations | 0.228 arcsec |
Residuals

Residuals in right ascension and declination compared to NIMAv13 ephemeris.
Colours indicate the estimated precision in arcsec used as weights in the fitting process.
Orbit quality
date | σα (arcsec) | σδ (arcsec) |
2021-01 | 0.047 | 0.026 |
2021-07 | 0.039 | 0.027 |
2022-01 | 0.056 | 0.029 |
2022-07 | 0.047 | 0.030 |
2023-01 | 0.066 | 0.033 |
2023-07 | 0.056 | 0.033 |
2024-01 | 0.077 | 0.036 |
2024-07 | 0.066 | 0.036 |
2025-01 | 0.089 | 0.040 |
Ephemeris comparison

Difference between NIMAv13 and JPL48 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.