Vesta the brightest asteroid or minor planet is now visible with binoculars and small telescopes and well placed for observation as it heads towards opposition on January 17th. Although it won't quite reach naked eye brightness this time, the asteroid remains at least as bright as seventh magnitude from now until the end of March. At peak, Vesta hits magnitude +6.2 in January and throughout the next few months will appear bright, easy to spot and follow with either a pair of quality binoculars or a small scope.

Discovery

Vesta was the fourth asteroid to be discovered on March 29, 1807 by German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers. With a diameter 530 kilometres (330 miles) it's the third largest body - after Ceres and Pallas - in the main asteroid belt. However, Vesta is the brightest asteroid and appears brighter than the above-mentioned pair because it approaches closer to Earth and has a higher albedo or reflective surface. At favourable oppositions Vesta peaks at mag. +5.1, putting it within naked eye visibility.

Location

The asteroid starts December moving retrograde in Cancer and remains there through opposition until it crosses into Gemini on January 19th. It's visible just after sunset in December and remains so for the rest of the night. In January, Vesta is effectively visible all night long, rising in the east at sunset and setting in the west as the Sun reappears on the opposite side of the sky. However, from about January 11th to 15th the bright Moon nearby will somewhat interfere with observations.

At opposition, Vesta will be 1.523 AU (approx. 227.8 million kilometres or 141.6 million miles) from Earth. The next few months offer a superb opportunity to view this asteroid belt object. Don't miss it!

Vesta position in the sky from November 2016 to March 2017 - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts)

Vesta Data Table