(106) Dione
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	6 Jul 2026	13.0	2.840 AU	2.419 AU	00h07m	-05°01'	103.9°	20.3°
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
2026-07-06 00:00 UT   00 07 17.3   -05 01 16     2.419    2.840  103.9   20.3   248   13.0 
2026-07-06 09:17 UT   00 07 31.1   -05 00 26     2.414    2.840  104.2   20.3   248   12.9 
2026-07-07 00:00 UT   00 07 52.6   -04 59 08     2.406    2.839  104.7   20.3   248   12.9 
2026-07-08 00:00 UT   00 08 26.8   -04 57 06     2.392    2.838  105.5   20.2   248   12.9 
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   00 09 00.0   -04 55 12     2.378    2.836  106.3   20.1   248   12.9 
2026-07-10 00:00 UT   00 09 32.2   -04 53 24     2.365    2.835  107.1   20.0   248   12.9 
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   00 10 03.3   -04 51 44     2.351    2.834  107.9   20.0   248   12.9 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   00 10 33.3   -04 50 11     2.337    2.833  108.7   19.9   248   12.9 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   00 11 02.3   -04 48 46     2.324    2.831  109.6   19.8   248   12.8 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   00 11 30.1   -04 47 28     2.311    2.830  110.4   19.7   249   12.8 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   00 11 56.9   -04 46 17     2.297    2.829  111.2   19.6   249   12.8 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   00 12 22.5   -04 45 14     2.284    2.828  112.1   19.5   249   12.8 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   00 12 46.9   -04 44 19     2.271    2.826  112.9   19.3   249   12.8 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   00 13 10.2   -04 43 31     2.258    2.825  113.8   19.2   249   12.8 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   00 13 32.3   -04 42 51     2.245    2.824  114.6   19.1   249   12.7 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   00 13 53.3   -04 42 19     2.232    2.823  115.5   19.0   249   12.7 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   00 14 13.0   -04 41 54     2.219    2.822  116.4   18.8   249   12.7 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   00 14 31.6   -04 41 37     2.207    2.820  117.3   18.7   249   12.7 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   00 14 48.9   -04 41 28     2.194    2.819  118.1   18.5   250   12.7 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   00 15 05.0   -04 41 26     2.182    2.818  119.0   18.4   250   12.7 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   00 15 19.9   -04 41 33     2.169    2.817  119.9   18.2   250   12.6 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   00 15 33.6   -04 41 47     2.157    2.816  120.8   18.0   250   12.6 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   00 15 45.9   -04 42 08     2.145    2.814  121.7   17.9   250   12.6 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   00 15 57.0   -04 42 38     2.133    2.813  122.6   17.7   250   12.6 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   00 16 06.9   -04 43 16     2.121    2.812  123.5   17.5   250   12.6 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   00 16 15.4   -04 44 01     2.109    2.811  124.5   17.3   251   12.5 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   00 16 22.7   -04 44 54     2.097    2.810  125.4   17.1   251   12.5 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   00 16 28.6   -04 45 55     2.086    2.809  126.3   16.9   251   12.5 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   00 16 33.3   -04 47 04     2.074    2.807  127.2   16.7   251   12.5 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   00 16 36.6   -04 48 20     2.063    2.806  128.2   16.5   251   12.5 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   00 16 38.5   -04 49 45     2.052    2.805  129.1   16.3   251   12.4 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   00 16 39.2   -04 51 17     2.041    2.804  130.1   16.1   252   12.4 

    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.