Vesta

Just curious, has anyone managed to see the asteroid Vesta, since I know
it's at its closest point to Earth in a few days....

I've seen Vesta (many years ago in the 1960s). I made a small chart
of what I could see in a small telescope (I think it was just a pair
of observations over a few days). Vesta then stood out quite clearly.

Give it a try. Depending on where it is and the finder charts you
have available, you may not be able to just pick it out of the
clutter.

Saul Levy


On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 12:03:18 GMT, "Algomeysa2"
wrote:

Just curious, has anyone managed to see the asteroid Vesta, since I know
it's at its closest point to Earth in a few days....

Saul Levy wrote:

I've seen Vesta (many years ago in the 1960s). I made a small chart
of what I could see in a small telescope (I think it was just a pair
of observations over a few days). Vesta then stood out quite clearly.

Give it a try. Depending on where it is and the finder charts you
have available, you may not be able to just pick it out of the
clutter.

There's a nice chart in the RASC _Observer's Handbook 2004_ showing
Vesta's track over the later half of the year. Right now it's
approaching Omega Aquarii; it'll pass between Omega-1 and Omega-2
(102 & 105 Aqr) during the next few days, almost reaching sixth magnitude.

--
Odysseus