that the name of —another large trans-Neptunian object discovered by Brown—was announced. Despite this, the name was approved by the CSBN, and the naming citation, along with Quaoar's official numbering, was published in a Minor Planet Circular on 20 November 2002. Quaoar was given the minor planet number 50000, which was not by coincidence but to commemorate its large size, being that it was found in the search for a Pluto-sized object in the Kuiper belt. The large Kuiper belt object 20000 Varuna was similarly numbered for a similar occasion. However, subsequent even larger discoveries such as 136199 Eris were simply numbered according to the order in which their orbits were confirmed. Planetary symbols are no longer much used in astronomy, so Quaoar never received a symbol in the astronomical literature. A Quaoar symbol (), mostly used among astrologers, is included in Unicode as U+1F77E. The symbol was designed by Denis Moskowitz, a software engineer in Massachusetts; it combines the letter Q (for 'Quaoar') with a canoe, and is stylized to recall angular Tongva rock art. Orbit and classification Quaoar orbits the Sun at an average distance of , taking 288.8 years to complete one full orbit around the Sun. With an orbital eccentricity of 0.04, Quaoar follows a nearly circular orbit, only slightly varying in distance from 42 AU at perihelion to 45 AU at aphelion. At such distances, light from the Sun takes more than 5 hours to reach Quaoar. Quaoar has last passed aphelion in late 1932 and is currently approaching the Sun at a rate of 0.035 AU per year, or about . Quaoar will reach perihelion around February 2075. Because Quaoar has a nearly circular orbit, it does not approach close to Neptune such that its orbit can become significantly perturbed under the gravitational influence of Neptune. Quaoar's minimum orbit intersection distance from Neptune is only 12.3 AU—it does not approach Neptune within this distance over the course of its orbit, as it is not in a mean-motion orbital resonance with Neptune. Simulations by the Deep Ecliptic Survey show that the perihelion and aphelion distances of Quaoar's orbit do not change significantly over the next 10 million years; Quaoar's orbit appears to be stable over the long term. Quaoar is generally classified as a trans-Neptunian object or distant minor planet by the Minor Planet Center since it orbits in the outer Solar System beyond Neptune.