Asteroid 4 Vesta
Asteroid 4 Vesta Sky Charts and Coordinates
This is a simplified sky chart, showing where Asteroid 4 Vesta is now with respect to the brightest stars and constellations.
More advanced sky charts are available on TheSkyLive for this object: 1) the Online Planetarium which is interactive and allows to select dates and additional objects to visualize; and 2) the Live Position and Data Tracker which provides the highest precision position data and features deep sky imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey.
Asteroid 4 Vesta Rise and Set Times
Today's Asteroid 4 Vesta rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. All times are relative to the local timezone Europe/London.
Asteroid 4 Vesta Orbit Diagram
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 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 | MagnitudeMag | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Sep 15 | 7.84 | 12h 00m 43s | +05° 12’ 02” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 16 | 7.83 | 12h 02m 35s | +05° 00’ 17” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 17 | 7.82 | 12h 04m 24s | +04° 48’ 33” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 18 | 7.81 | 12h 06m 15s | +04° 36’ 47” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 19 | 7.80 | 12h 08m 05s | +04° 25’ 03” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 20 | 7.80 | 12h 09m 56s | +04° 13’ 17” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 21 | 7.79 | 12h 11m 48s | +04° 01’ 31” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 22 | 7.78 | 12h 13m 38s | +03° 49’ 45” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 23 | 7.77 | 12h 15m 29s | +03° 37’ 59” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 24 | 7.77 | 12h 17m 21s | +03° 26’ 12” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 25 | 7.76 | 12h 19m 12s | +03° 14’ 25” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 26 | 7.76 | 12h 21m 02s | +03° 02’ 39” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 27 | 7.76 | 12h 22m 54s | +02° 50’ 52” | Virgo |
| 2017 Sep 28 | 7.76 | 12h 24m 46s | +02° 39’ 06” | Virgo |
Distance of Asteroid 4 Vesta from Earth
The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 4 Vesta from Earth as a function of time. Distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with a 2 days interval.
The reported distances might be inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth.
Light Curve of Asteroid 4 Vesta
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 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 Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 4 Vesta at epoch 03 September 2017 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.08915261 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 7.14001936° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.15121893 AU 321,817,771 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
2.57233619 AU 384,816,018 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
2.36177756 AU 353,316,895 km |
| Orbital period | period |
3.6300 years 1,325.7356 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2018-May-09 19:13:35 2,458,248.3011 JD |
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 150.94308653206° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 103.83587920561° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 292.71026400513° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.27154736°/day |
| Closest approach to Earth* | 2047-Jun-14 | |
| Distance of closest approach* | 1.13795847 AU 170,236,164 km |
|
* NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed for the time interval between 2013-Jan-01 and 2075-Dec-31, with a sampling interval of 1 day.