(78) Diana
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Jan 2026	14.2	3.148 AU	4.127 AU	20h02m	-24°20'	4.9°	1.5°
Opposition	27 Aug 2026	12.4	3.068 AU	2.057 AU	22h23m	-09°49'	179.7°	0.1°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of Diana are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2034928
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6226327
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.67873
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 333.28676
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 153.28498
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 155.05893
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 306.83579
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.88964
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.25            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   20 02 07.8   -24 20 19     4.127    3.148    4.9    1.5   128   14.2 
2026-01-15 21:42 UT   20 03 31.4   -24 15 30     4.128    3.148    4.6    1.4   134   14.2 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   20 03 40.3   -24 14 59     4.128    3.148    4.5    1.4   135   14.2 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   20 05 12.6   -24 09 36     4.129    3.149    4.2    1.3   142   14.2 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   20 06 44.9   -24 04 11     4.130    3.149    3.9    1.2   150   14.1 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   20 08 17.0   -23 58 43     4.130    3.149    3.8    1.2   159   14.1 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   20 09 48.9   -23 53 13     4.131    3.150    3.7    1.2   169   14.1 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   20 11 20.8   -23 47 41     4.131    3.150    3.8    1.2   179   14.1 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   20 12 52.5   -23 42 06     4.131    3.150    3.9    1.2   189   14.1 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   20 14 24.0   -23 36 29     4.131    3.150    4.2    1.3   197   14.2 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   20 15 55.4   -23 30 49     4.131    3.151    4.6    1.4   204   14.2 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   20 17 26.6   -23 25 07     4.130    3.151    5.0    1.6   210   14.2 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   20 18 57.7   -23 19 23     4.130    3.151    5.4    1.7   215   14.2 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   20 20 28.6   -23 13 37     4.129    3.151    5.9    1.8   219   14.2 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   20 21 59.4   -23 07 48     4.128    3.152    6.4    2.0   223   14.2 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   20 23 29.9   -23 01 58     4.127    3.152    7.0    2.2   226   14.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   20 25 00.3   -22 56 05     4.126    3.152    7.6    2.4   228   14.2 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   20 26 30.5   -22 50 10     4.124    3.152    8.1    2.5   230   14.2 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   20 28 00.5   -22 44 13     4.123    3.153    8.7    2.7   232   14.3 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   20 29 30.4   -22 38 14     4.121    3.153    9.3    2.9   234   14.3 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   20 31 00.0   -22 32 12     4.119    3.153    9.9    3.1   235   14.3 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   20 32 29.5   -22 26 09     4.117    3.153   10.5    3.3   237   14.3 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   20 33 58.7   -22 20 04     4.115    3.153   11.1    3.5   238   14.3 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   20 35 27.8   -22 13 57     4.112    3.154   11.8    3.7   239   14.3 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   20 36 56.6   -22 07 48     4.110    3.154   12.4    3.8   239   14.3 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.