(106) Dione
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 Apr 2026	13.7	2.965 AU	3.617 AU	22h28m	-13°28'	43.0°	13.3°
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)                : 0.1588532
            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
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   22 28 53.4   -13 28 49     3.617    2.965   43.0   13.3   244   13.7 
2026-04-07 09:00 UT   22 29 25.3   -13 26 02     3.613    2.964   43.2   13.4   244   13.7 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   22 30 18.2   -13 21 24     3.607    2.963   43.6   13.5   245   13.7 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   22 31 42.8   -13 13 59     3.596    2.962   44.2   13.6   245   13.7 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   22 33 07.0   -13 06 35     3.585    2.960   44.8   13.8   245   13.7 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   22 34 31.0   -12 59 11     3.574    2.959   45.5   14.0   245   13.7 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   22 35 54.7   -12 51 48     3.563    2.957   46.1   14.1   245   13.7 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   22 37 18.1   -12 44 25     3.552    2.956   46.7   14.3   245   13.7 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   22 38 41.1   -12 37 03     3.541    2.955   47.3   14.4   245   13.7 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   22 40 03.9   -12 29 42     3.530    2.953   47.9   14.6   245   13.7 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   22 41 26.4   -12 22 22     3.518    2.952   48.6   14.8   245   13.7 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   22 42 48.6   -12 15 03     3.507    2.950   49.2   14.9   245   13.7 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   22 44 10.5   -12 07 45     3.495    2.949   49.8   15.1   245   13.7 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   22 45 32.0   -12 00 28     3.484    2.947   50.4   15.2   245   13.7 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   22 46 53.3   -11 53 12     3.472    2.946   51.0   15.4   245   13.7 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   22 48 14.2   -11 45 58     3.460    2.944   51.7   15.5   245   13.7 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   22 49 34.7   -11 38 44     3.448    2.943   52.3   15.7   245   13.6 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   22 50 54.9   -11 31 32     3.436    2.941   52.9   15.8   245   13.6 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   22 52 14.8   -11 24 22     3.424    2.940   53.5   16.0   245   13.6 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   22 53 34.4   -11 17 12     3.412    2.938   54.2   16.1   245   13.6 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   22 54 53.6   -11 10 05     3.400    2.937   54.8   16.3   245   13.6 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   22 56 12.4   -11 02 59     3.387    2.936   55.4   16.4   245   13.6 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   22 57 30.9   -10 55 54     3.375    2.934   56.0   16.5   245   13.6 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   22 58 49.0   -10 48 51     3.363    2.933   56.7   16.7   245   13.6 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   23 00 06.8   -10 41 50     3.350    2.931   57.3   16.8   245   13.6 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   23 01 24.2   -10 34 51     3.337    2.930   57.9   16.9   245   13.6 

    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.