(106) Dione
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Feb 2026	13.6	3.031 AU	3.969 AU	21h22m	-18°48'	16.1°	5.2°
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)                : 0.1588532
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1824910
            i (Inclination)                 : 4.57500
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 61.98311
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 331.74654
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 279.92762
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 33.80583
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.16389
            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
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   21 22 53.5   -18 48 04     3.969    3.031   16.1    5.2   241   13.6 
2026-02-22 05:18 UT   21 23 14.3   -18 46 34     3.968    3.031   16.2    5.2   241   13.6 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   21 24 27.6   -18 41 15     3.964    3.030   16.7    5.4   241   13.6 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   21 26 01.4   -18 34 24     3.959    3.028   17.3    5.6   241   13.6 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   21 27 35.2   -18 27 30     3.953    3.027   17.9    5.8   241   13.6 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   21 29 08.7   -18 20 35     3.948    3.025   18.5    6.0   242   13.6 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   21 30 42.2   -18 13 39     3.942    3.024   19.2    6.2   242   13.6 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   21 32 15.4   -18 06 40     3.936    3.022   19.8    6.4   242   13.6 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   21 33 48.5   -17 59 40     3.930    3.021   20.4    6.6   242   13.6 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   21 35 21.4   -17 52 39     3.924    3.019   21.0    6.7   242   13.6 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   21 36 54.2   -17 45 36     3.917    3.018   21.6    6.9   243   13.6 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   21 38 26.8   -17 38 31     3.911    3.016   22.2    7.1   243   13.6 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   21 39 59.2   -17 31 25     3.904    3.015   22.8    7.3   243   13.6 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   21 41 31.4   -17 24 17     3.897    3.013   23.4    7.5   243   13.7 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   21 43 03.5   -17 17 08     3.891    3.012   24.0    7.7   243   13.7 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   21 44 35.4   -17 09 58     3.884    3.010   24.6    7.9   243   13.7 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   21 46 07.1   -17 02 46     3.877    3.008   25.2    8.1   243   13.7 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   21 47 38.7   -16 55 33     3.869    3.007   25.9    8.3   243   13.7 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   21 49 10.0   -16 48 19     3.862    3.005   26.5    8.5   244   13.7 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   21 50 41.2   -16 41 04     3.854    3.004   27.1    8.7   244   13.7 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   21 52 12.1   -16 33 47     3.847    3.002   27.7    8.8   244   13.7 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   21 53 42.9   -16 26 30     3.839    3.001   28.3    9.0   244   13.7 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   21 55 13.5   -16 19 11     3.831    2.999   28.9    9.2   244   13.7 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   21 56 43.8   -16 11 52     3.823    2.998   29.5    9.4   244   13.7 

    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.