COMETS AND ASTEROIDS

Grab your binos to track brightening asteroid Vesta

Asteroid 4 Vesta reaches opposition on 2 May, when it can be found shining among the stars of northern Libra, close to the constellation’s boundary with Virgo. At opposition, it’s predicted to reach mag. +5.7, which places it within naked-eye territory from a dark-sky site, although binoculars are a better way to catch it. On 1 April, mag. +6.6 Vesta sits 3° north of mag. +2.6 Zubeneschamali (Beta (β) Librae), thereafter proceeding to the westnorthwest towards the mag. +4.5 star 16 Librae at the start of May. Its path arcs slightly north as it goes, taking it through a fairly barren part of the spring sky. Discovered on 29 March 1807, Vesta was the fourth asteroid identified – hence its prefix ‘4’. It’s the second most massive and second-largest body…

You're reading a preview of

BBC Sky at Night United Kingdom (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.