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Finder Chart showing the path of asteroid 4 Vesta through southern Aquarius at 5-day intervals from late July to mid-September 2022 (click on the thumbnail for the full-size chart). This is the period during which the asteroid is technically visible to the naked-eye (i.e. brighter than apparent magnitude +6.5) from fully dark, non light-polluted skies. A Southern hemisphere view of the chart can be found here and a printer-friendly (greyscale) version can be obtained for Northern and Southern hemisphere views. The path of Saturn, positioned close by in Capricornus, is also shown over the same period. Vesta reaches opposition to the Sun (its closest point to the Earth, when it shines at its brightest for the year) on August 22nd 2022, when it is 1.2853 Astronomical Units (192.3 million kms or 119.5 million miles) from the Earth. Vesta then shines at magnitude +6.1. Click here to see a 'clean' star map of the area (i.e. without asteroid path); a printable version can be found here. The faintest stars shown on the chart have a magnitude of about +7.3. Astronomical co-ordinates of Right Ascension (longitude, measured Eastwards in hrs:mins) and Declination (latitude, measured in degrees North or South of the celestial equator) are marked around the border of the chart. |
Credits
Copyright Martin J Powell March 2022