(78) Diana
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Aug 2026	12.6	3.072 AU	2.064 AU	22h28m	-09°36'	174.4°	1.9°
Opposition	27 Aug 2026	12.4	3.068 AU	2.058 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)                : 0.2035330
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6225476
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.67948
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 333.28391
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 153.31918
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 201.42507
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 306.86695
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.88535
            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
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   22 28 00.9   -09 36 15     2.064    3.072  174.4    1.9   248   12.6 
2026-08-23 12:05 UT   22 27 33.4   -09 37 42     2.063    3.072  175.0    1.7   248   12.6 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   22 27 06.3   -09 39 08     2.062    3.071  175.5    1.5   248   12.6 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   22 26 11.4   -09 42 02     2.061    3.070  176.7    1.1   247   12.6 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   22 25 16.3   -09 44 57     2.059    3.069  177.9    0.7   245   12.5 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   22 24 21.1   -09 47 51     2.058    3.068  179.1    0.3   239   12.5 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   22 23 25.8   -09 50 45     2.057    3.067  179.6    0.1   100   12.4 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   22 22 30.5   -09 53 39     2.057    3.066  178.5    0.5    77   12.5 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   22 21 35.2   -09 56 32     2.056    3.065  177.3    0.9    74   12.5 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   22 20 39.9   -09 59 24     2.056    3.064  176.1    1.3    73   12.6 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   22 19 44.7   -10 02 15     2.057    3.063  174.9    1.7    73   12.6 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   22 18 49.7   -10 05 05     2.057    3.062  173.7    2.1    72   12.6 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   22 17 54.9   -10 07 53     2.058    3.061  172.5    2.5    72   12.7 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   22 17 00.4   -10 10 40     2.059    3.060  171.3    2.9    72   12.7 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   22 16 06.2   -10 13 24     2.061    3.059  170.1    3.2    72   12.7 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   22 15 12.4   -10 16 07     2.063    3.058  168.9    3.6    72   12.7 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   22 14 18.9   -10 18 46     2.065    3.057  167.7    4.0    72   12.8 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   22 13 26.0   -10 21 23     2.067    3.056  166.5    4.4    72   12.8 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   22 12 33.6   -10 23 58     2.069    3.055  165.4    4.8    72   12.8 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   22 11 41.7   -10 26 29     2.072    3.054  164.2    5.2    72   12.8 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   22 10 50.5   -10 28 56     2.076    3.053  163.0    5.5    72   12.8 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   22 09 60.0   -10 31 20     2.079    3.051  161.8    5.9    72   12.9 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   22 09 10.2   -10 33 41     2.083    3.050  160.6    6.3    72   12.9 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   22 08 21.1   -10 35 57     2.087    3.049  159.4    6.7    72   12.9 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   22 07 32.9   -10 38 09     2.091    3.048  158.3    7.0    72   12.9 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   22 06 45.6   -10 40 17     2.095    3.047  157.1    7.4    72   13.0 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   22 05 59.1   -10 42 21     2.100    3.046  155.9    7.7    72   13.0 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   22 05 13.6   -10 44 20     2.105    3.045  154.8    8.1    72   13.0 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   22 04 29.1   -10 46 14     2.111    3.044  153.6    8.4    72   13.0 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   22 03 45.5   -10 48 03     2.116    3.042  152.5    8.8    72   13.0 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   22 03 03.1   -10 49 47     2.122    3.041  151.3    9.1    72   13.0 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   22 02 21.7   -10 51 26     2.128    3.040  150.2    9.5    72   13.1 

    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.