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Sunset: 21:18
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 4 Vesta

Above the horizon.  Rise: 16:07 | Tran: 21:37 | Set: 3:12
Alt: 32.93°   Az: 182.17°   Direction: South

Asteroid 4 Vesta is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 206,206,071.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 14h 23m 20s and the Declination is -05° 34’ 14” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 4 Vesta is 6.44.

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 4 Vesta in Virgo on June, 17 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 4 Vesta in Virgo on June, 17 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 4 Vesta is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

4 Vesta
RA: 14h 22m 00s
Dec: -05° 27’ 19”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 4 Vesta. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

14h 23m 20s
-05° 34’ 14”
00h 07m 19s
14h 30m 40s

J2000

14h 22m 00s
-05° 27’ 19”

Additional Information

Virgo
6.44

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 4 Vesta from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 95.5°
Max altitude: 32.9°
Azimuth: 264.5°
  • 4 Vesta is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South direction at an altitude of 32.93° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 4 Vesta is barely visible to naked eye under a clear and dark sky, easily visible with the help of a small binocular.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 4 Vesta from Earth is currently 206,206,071.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.3784024467 Astronomical Units. Light takes 11m 27.829s to travel from Asteroid 4 Vesta and arrive to us.

206,206,071.0
1.3784024467
11m 27.829s

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.

Chart of the distance of Asteroid 4 Vesta from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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

Between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499, the closest approach of Asteroid 4 Vesta to Earth happens on Thu Jun 23 2439 at a distance of 1.131542 Astronomical Units, or 169,276,274 kilometers:

Thu Jun 23 2439
169,276,274
1.131542

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

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.

Chart of the magnitude of Asteroid 4 Vesta as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 4 Vesta at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.08875750
Orbit inclination i 7.13925798°
Perihelion distance q 2.15330084 AU
322,129,221 km
Aphelion distance Q 2.57277559 AU
384,881,751 km
Semi-major axis a 2.36303821 AU
353,505,486 km
Orbital period period 3.6326 years
1,326.7972 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2021-Dec-27 16:07:29
2,459,576.1719 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-Aug-15 11:15
2,460,902.9691 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 151.59916398802°
Longitude of the ascending node node 103.75730014935°
Mean anomaly M 115.13298959749°
Mean motion n 0.27133009°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 4 Vesta
View Asteroid 4 Vesta in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Jun 10 14h 24m 30s -04° 53’ 15” 6.27 Virgo
2025 Jun 11 14h 24m 14s -04° 57’ 54” 6.29 Virgo
2025 Jun 12 14h 24m 02s -05° 02’ 44” 6.32 Virgo
2025 Jun 13 14h 23m 50s -05° 07’ 43” 6.34 Virgo
2025 Jun 14 14h 23m 41s -05° 12’ 52” 6.36 Virgo
2025 Jun 15 14h 23m 33s -05° 18’ 10” 6.38 Virgo
2025 Jun 16 14h 23m 27s -05° 23’ 38” 6.40 Virgo
2025 Jun 17 14h 23m 22s -05° 29’ 15” 6.42 Virgo
2025 Jun 18 14h 23m 20s -05° 35’ 01” 6.44 Virgo
2025 Jun 19 14h 23m 19s -05° 40’ 56” 6.46 Virgo
2025 Jun 20 14h 23m 21s -05° 46’ 59” 6.48 Virgo
2025 Jun 21 14h 23m 24s -05° 53’ 11” 6.50 Virgo
2025 Jun 22 14h 23m 29s -05° 59’ 31” 6.52 Virgo
2025 Jun 23 14h 23m 36s -06° 06’ 00” 6.54 Virgo

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