(78) Diana
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	27 Feb 2026	14.5	3.156 AU	4.024 AU	21h05m	-19°59'	25.2°	7.7°
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
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   21 05 44.8   -19 59 04     4.024    3.156   25.2    7.7   246   14.5 
2026-02-27 03:56 UT   21 05 58.5   -19 57 58     4.023    3.156   25.3    7.7   246   14.5 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   21 07 08.4   -19 52 23     4.018    3.156   25.9    7.9   247   14.5 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   21 08 31.7   -19 45 42     4.011    3.156   26.5    8.1   247   14.5 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   21 09 54.7   -19 39 00     4.005    3.156   27.2    8.2   247   14.5 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   21 11 17.4   -19 32 17     3.999    3.156   27.8    8.4   247   14.5 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   21 12 39.9   -19 25 33     3.992    3.156   28.5    8.6   247   14.5 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   21 14 02.0   -19 18 48     3.985    3.156   29.1    8.8   247   14.5 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   21 15 23.8   -19 12 02     3.978    3.156   29.8    9.0   247   14.5 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   21 16 45.3   -19 05 16     3.971    3.156   30.4    9.2   247   14.5 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   21 18 06.5   -18 58 29     3.964    3.156   31.1    9.3   247   14.5 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   21 19 27.4   -18 51 41     3.957    3.156   31.8    9.5   247   14.5 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   21 20 47.9   -18 44 52     3.949    3.156   32.4    9.7   247   14.5 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   21 22 08.2   -18 38 03     3.942    3.156   33.1    9.9   247   14.5 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   21 23 28.1   -18 31 13     3.934    3.156   33.7   10.1   247   14.5 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   21 24 47.7   -18 24 23     3.926    3.156   34.4   10.2   247   14.5 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   21 26 06.9   -18 17 33     3.918    3.156   35.1   10.4   247   14.5 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   21 27 25.8   -18 10 42     3.910    3.156   35.7   10.6   248   14.5 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   21 28 44.3   -18 03 50     3.901    3.156   36.4   10.8   248   14.5 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   21 30 02.5   -17 56 58     3.893    3.156   37.0   10.9   248   14.5 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   21 31 20.4   -17 50 07     3.884    3.156   37.7   11.1   248   14.5 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   21 32 37.9   -17 43 14     3.875    3.156   38.4   11.3   248   14.5 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   21 33 55.0   -17 36 22     3.866    3.156   39.0   11.5   248   14.5 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   21 35 11.7   -17 29 30     3.857    3.156   39.7   11.6   248   14.5 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   21 36 28.1   -17 22 38     3.848    3.156   40.4   11.8   248   14.5 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   21 37 44.0   -17 15 46     3.839    3.156   41.0   12.0   248   14.5 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   21 38 59.6   -17 08 54     3.829    3.156   41.7   12.1   248   14.5 

    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.