(106) Dione
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	27 Aug 2026	11.9	2.780 AU	1.844 AU	00h11m	-05°54'	152.5°	9.7°
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
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   00 11 13.7   -05 54 43     1.844    2.780  152.5    9.7   259   11.9 
2026-08-27 03:28 UT   00 11 09.5   -05 55 17     1.843    2.779  152.6    9.6   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 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   00 06 11.4   -06 32 36     1.793    2.770  162.1    6.4   267   11.7 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   00 05 33.0   -06 37 01     1.789    2.769  163.1    6.1   269   11.7 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   00 04 53.7   -06 41 28     1.785    2.768  164.2    5.7   271   11.7 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   00 04 13.7   -06 45 56     1.781    2.767  165.2    5.3   272   11.7 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   00 03 32.9   -06 50 24     1.777    2.766  166.2    5.0   275   11.6 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   00 02 51.4   -06 54 52     1.774    2.765  167.2    4.6   277   11.6 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   00 02 09.3   -06 59 21     1.771    2.764  168.2    4.3   280   11.6 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   00 01 26.6   -07 03 49     1.768    2.763  169.1    3.9   284   11.6 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   00 00 43.3   -07 08 16     1.766    2.762  170.1    3.6   288   11.5 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   23 59 59.6   -07 12 41     1.763    2.761  170.9    3.3   293   11.5 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   23 59 15.4   -07 17 05     1.761    2.760  171.7    3.0   299   11.5 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   23 58 30.8   -07 21 27     1.760    2.759  172.3    2.8   306   11.5 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   23 57 45.9   -07 25 47     1.758    2.758  172.9    2.6   314   11.5 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   23 57 00.8   -07 30 03     1.757    2.757  173.2    2.5   323   11.5 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   23 56 15.4   -07 34 17     1.756    2.756  173.4    2.4   333   11.5 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   23 55 29.8   -07 38 27     1.755    2.756  173.4    2.4   343   11.4 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   23 54 44.2   -07 42 33     1.755    2.755  173.2    2.5   353   11.5 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   23 53 58.5   -07 46 35     1.755    2.754  172.8    2.6     2   11.5 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   23 53 12.8   -07 50 33     1.755    2.753  172.2    2.8    10   11.5 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   23 52 27.2   -07 54 26     1.755    2.752  171.5    3.1    17   11.5 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   23 51 41.7   -07 58 13     1.756    2.751  170.7    3.4    22   11.5 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   23 50 56.3   -08 01 55     1.757    2.750  169.8    3.7    27   11.5 

    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.