Asteroid (4) Vesta almost at opposition: an image – 7 Nov. 2019
Asteroid (4) Vesta is approaching its opposition and we managed to image it. It is the brightest minor planet in our Solar System, sometimes visible by naked eye.
Asteroid (4) Vesta – 7 Nov. 2019
The image above comes from a single 60-seconds exposure, remotely taken with “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″+Paramount ME+SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available at Virtual Telescope. The asteroid is the bright object in the very center of the image.
Asteroid (4) Vesta was discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers in 1807, the 4th object of its kind to be found. It is the 2nd most massive asteroid (after Ceres, which is now classified as a dwarf planet) and likely the 2nd largest object in the asteroid belt.
In 2014, Vesta and Ceres offered us a superb, close conjunction: at that time, we covered that event quite closely.
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The whole web has no data when asteroid (4) Vesta is at opposition in 2020.