(106) Dione
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	5 Aug 2026	12.4	2.804 AU	2.041 AU	00h16m	-04°51'	130.1°	16.1°
Opposition	18 Sep 2026	11.5	2.757 AU	1.756 AU	23h56m	-07°32'	173.3°	2.4°

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 Dione are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1587167
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1820858
            i (Inclination)                 : 4.57483
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 61.97662
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 331.77481
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 314.61660
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 33.82755
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.16183
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.68            
        

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
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   00 16 39.2   -04 51 17     2.041    2.804  130.1   16.1   252   12.4 
2026-08-05 10:01 UT   00 16 39.0   -04 51 58     2.037    2.803  130.5   16.0   252   12.4 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   00 16 38.5   -04 52 57     2.030    2.803  131.0   15.8   252   12.4 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   00 16 36.4   -04 54 44     2.020    2.802  132.0   15.6   252   12.4 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   00 16 32.9   -04 56 40     2.009    2.800  133.0   15.4   252   12.4 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   00 16 28.1   -04 58 43     1.999    2.799  134.0   15.1   253   12.3 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   00 16 22.0   -05 00 53     1.989    2.798  134.9   14.9   253   12.3 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   00 16 14.4   -05 03 11     1.979    2.797  135.9   14.6   253   12.3 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   00 16 05.5   -05 05 36     1.969    2.796  136.9   14.3   253   12.3 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   00 15 55.3   -05 08 08     1.959    2.795  137.9   14.1   253   12.3 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   00 15 43.6   -05 10 48     1.949    2.794  138.9   13.8   254   12.2 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   00 15 30.6   -05 13 34     1.940    2.793  139.9   13.5   254   12.2 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   00 15 16.3   -05 16 27     1.931    2.791  141.0   13.2   254   12.2 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   00 15 00.7   -05 19 26     1.922    2.790  142.0   12.9   255   12.2 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   00 14 43.7   -05 22 32     1.913    2.789  143.0   12.6   255   12.1 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   00 14 25.4   -05 25 45     1.905    2.788  144.0   12.3   255   12.1 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   00 14 05.8   -05 29 03     1.897    2.787  145.1   12.0   256   12.1 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   00 13 44.9   -05 32 27     1.888    2.786  146.1   11.7   256   12.1 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   00 13 22.8   -05 35 57     1.880    2.785  147.2   11.4   257   12.1 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   00 12 59.4   -05 39 32     1.873    2.784  148.2   11.0   257   12.0 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   00 12 34.8   -05 43 12     1.865    2.783  149.3   10.7   257   12.0 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   00 12 08.9   -05 46 58     1.858    2.782  150.3   10.4   258   12.0 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   00 11 41.9   -05 50 48     1.851    2.781  151.4   10.0   259   12.0 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   00 11 13.7   -05 54 43     1.844    2.780  152.5    9.7   259   11.9 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   00 10 44.3   -05 58 42     1.838    2.779  153.5    9.3   260   11.9 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   00 10 13.8   -06 02 45     1.831    2.777  154.6    9.0   260   11.9 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   00 09 42.3   -06 06 51     1.825    2.776  155.7    8.6   261   11.9 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   00 09 09.6   -06 11 02     1.819    2.775  156.7    8.3   262   11.9 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   00 08 35.9   -06 15 15     1.814    2.774  157.8    7.9   263   11.8 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   00 08 01.2   -06 19 32     1.808    2.773  158.9    7.5   264   11.8 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   00 07 25.5   -06 23 51     1.803    2.772  159.9    7.2   265   11.8 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   00 06 48.9   -06 28 12     1.798    2.771  161.0    6.8   266   11.8 

    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.