Asteroid 4 Vesta
Asteroid 4 Vesta Position
Asteroid 4 Vesta is currently in the constellation of Cetus. The current Right Ascension is 02h 12m 01s and the Declination is +06° 55’ 59”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Asteroid 4 Vesta is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see fuillscreen Online Planetarium)
Hihgher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Asteroid 4 Vesta is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Asteroid 4 Vesta?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 4 Vesta in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Asteroid 4 Vesta Distance
The distance of Asteroid 4 Vesta from Earth is currently 436,460,887 kilometers, equivalent to 2.917561 Astronomical Units. Light takes 24 minutes and 15.8768 seconds to travel from Asteroid 4 Vesta and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 4 Vesta from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 4 Vesta from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Asteroid 4 Vesta to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Asteroid 4 Vesta to Earth happens on Sun Jun 7 2076 at a distance of 1.13751791 Astronomical Units, or 170,170,258 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Asteroid 4 Vesta brightness
The current visual magnitude of Asteroid 4 Vesta is 8.25.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 4 Vesta, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Asteroid 4 Vesta rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Asteroid 4 Vesta rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Asteroid 4 Vesta touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Asteroid 4 Vesta Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 4 Vesta at epoch 26 April 2019 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458600.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.08872146 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 7.14177081° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.15190945 AU 321,921,073 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
2.57092634 AU 384,605,107 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
2.36141790 AU 353,263,090 km |
| Orbital period | period |
3.6300 years 1,325.4328 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2018-May-09 01:25:47 2,458,247.5596 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2021-Dec-24 11:48 2,459,572.9923 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 150.72854128701° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 103.8108044271° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 95.861936200177° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.27160940°/day |
Visualization of Asteroid 4 Vesta Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 4 Vesta with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 4 Vesta and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
View Asteroid 4 Vesta in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Asteroid 4 Vesta Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 4 Vesta. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 530 km | 0.0416 |
| Sideral Rotation | 5.3420 hours | 0.2232 |
| Absolute Magnitude | 3.2 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.4228 |
Asteroid 4 Vesta 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 4 Vesta computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 4 Vesta in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Jun 10 | 01h 59m 47s | +05° 59’ 57” | 8.27 | Pisces |
| 2019 Jun 11 | 02h 01m 20s | +06° 07’ 18” | 8.27 | Pisces |
| 2019 Jun 12 | 02h 02m 53s | +06° 14’ 34” | 8.27 | Pisces |
| 2019 Jun 13 | 02h 04m 27s | +06° 21’ 46” | 8.26 | Pisces |
| 2019 Jun 14 | 02h 06m 00s | +06° 28’ 51” | 8.26 | Pisces |
| 2019 Jun 15 | 02h 07m 32s | +06° 35’ 54” | 8.26 | Cetus |
| 2019 Jun 16 | 02h 09m 05s | +06° 42’ 51” | 8.26 | Cetus |
| 2019 Jun 17 | 02h 10m 36s | +06° 49’ 45” | 8.26 | Cetus |
| 2019 Jun 18 | 02h 12m 09s | +06° 56’ 32” | 8.25 | Cetus |
| 2019 Jun 19 | 02h 13m 40s | +07° 03’ 16” | 8.25 | Cetus |
| 2019 Jun 20 | 02h 15m 11s | +07° 09’ 56” | 8.25 | Cetus |
| 2019 Jun 21 | 02h 16m 41s | +07° 16’ 30” | 8.25 | Cetus |
| 2019 Jun 22 | 02h 18m 12s | +07° 22’ 59” | 8.24 | Cetus |
| 2019 Jun 23 | 02h 19m 42s | +07° 29’ 22” | 8.24 | Cetus |