(78) Diana
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Jul 2026	13.3	3.098 AU	2.231 AU	22h48m	-08°34'	142.3°	11.6°
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
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   22 48 50.5   -08 34 37     2.231    3.098  142.3   11.6   249   13.3 
2026-07-26 11:09 UT   22 48 36.2   -08 35 09     2.227    3.098  142.8   11.4   249   13.3 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   22 48 19.5   -08 35 47     2.222    3.097  143.4   11.3   249   13.3 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   22 47 47.4   -08 37 02     2.213    3.096  144.5   11.0   249   13.3 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   22 47 14.0   -08 38 23     2.204    3.095  145.6   10.7   249   13.2 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   22 46 39.4   -08 39 49     2.196    3.095  146.7   10.4   249   13.2 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   22 46 03.7   -08 41 21     2.187    3.094  147.8   10.1   249   13.2 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   22 45 26.8   -08 42 59     2.179    3.093  148.9    9.8   249   13.2 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   22 44 48.8   -08 44 42     2.171    3.092  150.0    9.4   249   13.1 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   22 44 09.7   -08 46 30     2.163    3.091  151.1    9.1   249   13.1 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   22 43 29.5   -08 48 23     2.156    3.090  152.3    8.8   249   13.1 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   22 42 48.2   -08 50 21     2.149    3.089  153.4    8.5   249   13.1 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   22 42 05.9   -08 52 24     2.142    3.089  154.5    8.1   249   13.1 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   22 41 22.5   -08 54 31     2.135    3.088  155.7    7.8   249   13.0 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   22 40 38.2   -08 56 43     2.129    3.087  156.8    7.4   249   13.0 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   22 39 52.9   -08 58 60     2.123    3.086  157.9    7.1   249   13.0 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   22 39 06.7   -09 01 20     2.117    3.085  159.1    6.7   249   13.0 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   22 38 19.6   -09 03 44     2.111    3.084  160.3    6.4   249   12.9 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   22 37 31.7   -09 06 12     2.106    3.083  161.4    6.0   249   12.9 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   22 36 42.9   -09 08 44     2.100    3.082  162.6    5.7   249   12.9 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   22 35 53.4   -09 11 18     2.096    3.081  163.7    5.3   249   12.9 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   22 35 03.2   -09 13 56     2.091    3.080  164.9    4.9   249   12.9 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   22 34 12.3   -09 16 36     2.087    3.079  166.1    4.5   249   12.8 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   22 33 20.7   -09 19 19     2.083    3.078  167.3    4.2   249   12.8 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   22 32 28.6   -09 22 04     2.079    3.077  168.4    3.8   249   12.8 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   22 31 35.9   -09 24 51     2.075    3.076  169.6    3.4   249   12.7 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   22 30 42.8   -09 27 40     2.072    3.075  170.8    3.0   249   12.7 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   22 29 49.2   -09 30 31     2.069    3.074  172.0    2.6   249   12.7 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   22 28 55.2   -09 33 22     2.067    3.073  173.2    2.2   249   12.7 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   22 28 00.9   -09 36 15     2.064    3.072  174.4    1.9   248   12.6 
2026-08-24 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 

    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.