- Southern Hemisphere Sky Events

Step outside and see the asteroid Vesta using just binoculars

With the asteroid Vesta reaching opposition tomorrow, now is the time to step outside to look for it. It is easy to find with a decent finder chart and appears as a slightly red or orange star in binoculars. I suggest you observe Vesta over a couple of nights so you are sure you have found the right ‘star’. It will be the star that has moved between the two nights relative to the real stars.

Finder chart for Vesta. 7 pm AEST 5 August 2011. From dark sky locations, Vesta will be just visible to the unaided eye. Binoculars will make finding Vesta much easier however.

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft recently went into orbit around Vesta and is sending back some amazing images of it.

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2 thoughts on “Step outside and see the asteroid Vesta using just binoculars

  1. Thanks, Paul. I’ve been searching all over for this info. My family are only minimally acquainted with the night sky, but heard on the news that Vesta would be visible tonight as a slow moving satellite in the western sky. Is this true and what time? We’d be very grateful for your guidance.

    Cheers, Petrina

  2. Petrina,

    Nice to hear from you. While Vesta is moving quite fast in its orbit, it is also a long way from the Earth. The next effect of this is that Vesta will move from night to night but only a little bit relative to the background stars. It definitely wont be moving as fast as a satellite!

    As to when Vesta is visible, given that it is (almost) at opposition (which means it is at its closest to the Earth in its orbit), it will be visible all night. Use the above wide angle (colour) finder chart to show you where to look, and then the detailed Sky and Telescope chart in conjunction with a pair of binoculars or a telescope to find Vesta. Don’t be disappointed in the fact that it only looks like a star. It is great to be able to say you have found an asteroid.

    Regards,

    Paul Floyd.

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