Asteroid 4 Vesta
Asteroid 4 Vesta Position
Asteroid 4 Vesta is currently in the constellation of Taurus. The current Right Ascension is 04h 13m 29s and the Declination is +18° 57’ 58”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Asteroid 4 Vesta is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Higher 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 462,312,406 kilometers, equivalent to 3.090368 Astronomical Units. Light takes 25 minutes and 42.1082 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 170,170,257 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 8.23.
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, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric 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 30 May 2020 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.08851592 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 7.14189259° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.15293820 AU 322,074,971 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
2.57108991 AU 384,629,577 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
2.36201406 AU 353,352,274 km |
| Orbital period | period |
3.6300 years 1,325.9347 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2021-Dec-25 08:45:36 2,459,573.8650 JD |
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 150.87495607091° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 103.8090455586° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 204.32762880521° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.27150658°/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Mar 28 | 04h 02m 24s | +18° 14’ 38” | 8.21 | Taurus |
| 2020 Mar 29 | 04h 03m 54s | +18° 20’ 44” | 8.21 | Taurus |
| 2020 Mar 30 | 04h 05m 25s | +18° 26’ 49” | 8.21 | Taurus |
| 2020 Mar 31 | 04h 06m 56s | +18° 32’ 52” | 8.22 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 04h 08m 26s | +18° 38’ 51” | 8.22 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 04h 10m 00s | +18° 44’ 47” | 8.22 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 04h 11m 31s | +18° 50’ 39” | 8.23 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 04h 13m 05s | +18° 56’ 30” | 8.23 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 05 | 04h 14m 39s | +19° 02’ 16” | 8.23 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 06 | 04h 16m 13s | +19° 07’ 59” | 8.24 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 07 | 04h 17m 47s | +19° 13’ 40” | 8.24 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 08 | 04h 19m 22s | +19° 19’ 17” | 8.24 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 09 | 04h 20m 57s | +19° 24’ 51” | 8.24 | Taurus |
| 2020 Apr 10 | 04h 22m 33s | +19° 30’ 20” | 8.25 | Taurus |