You may have seen the amazing images of Vesta returned by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft but it is highly likely that you haven’t seen Vesta in the night sky. At it’s closest to Earth (which isn’t very close), Vesta only appears as a faint star which may be visible to the unaided eye if you live away from street lights. In binoculars, Vesta however is easy to view if you know which faint star happens to be Vesta.
Over the next couple of mornings, Vesta will pass near the bright star Aldebaran currently located in the morning pre-dawn sky. Find Aldebaran (marked on the chart below) and point your binoculars at Aldebaran and you will have Vesta in the same field of view.
Monday morning (6 August 2012) will see Vesta at its closest to Aldebaran (as seen from Earth). Just print off the below finder chart and take it outside with you to look so you can confirm you are looking at the correct faint star! It’s that easy to say you have seen your first asteroid.
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