Vesta is an asteroid visible to the naked eye

Vesta is an asteroid, in many respects curious. This is the only similar object that can be seen with the naked eye. By mass and size, West is superior to most other known asteroids in the space between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. In terms of its parameters, it is even closer to dwarf planets. Located in the main belt of asteroids, Vesta refers to bodies formed around the same period as the Earth, and therefore, can tell a lot about the distant past of our system.

Opening

Vesta is an asteroid discovered in the process of searching for a planet between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. According to the theory, the distribution of orbits in space around the Sun obeys a certain regularity. All the planets known at the beginning of the 19th century fit into this theory. Exceptions were only Jupiter and Mars. The vast space between them had to hide the unknown planet. During her search, many elements of the Main Asteroid Belt were discovered.

Westu discovered in 1807, Henry Wilhelm Olbers. Another scientist, Karl Gauss, gave her the name of the ancient Roman goddess of the hearth. The name was fixed and is still used.

Options

After Ceres was taken to dwarf planets, Vesta in its size is in second place among the asteroids after Pallas. Its parameters are 578 × 560 × 458 km. Noticeable asymmetry of the form does not allow us to refer West to dwarf planets. By weight (2.59 * 10 ²⁰ kg), it is ahead of the Pallas, that is, in the main belt of asteroids, only this same Ceres surpasses it in this parameter.

Does the asteroid have an atmosphere?

Asteroids do not just stand out in a separate class of cosmic bodies. From the planets, they differ in a number of parameters: size, shape, mass, and so on. The signs characteristic of the asteroid do not allow it to hold the gas shell. Therefore, the answer to the question "does the asteroid have an atmosphere" is negative. Extremely rarefied gas shell exists on Ceres. Other bodies in the Main Belt can not boast such a characteristic as the asteroid Vesta. Has an atmosphere of Earth, Venus, Mars, gas giants and some satellites. The asteroids are too small for this.

How to see the asteroid Vesta?

Vesta thanks to the brightness can be seen with the naked eye. Although it is inferior in size to Ceres and Pallas, but is characterized by a more significant reflectivity. Other asteroids from the Earth without special equipment can not be seen.

The best time to search for an asteroid in the sky is the days of confrontation, when it approaches the minimum distance to the Earth. During these periods, its brightness increases to 5.1 m (the minimum value of this parameter is 8.5 m). The last time such a confrontation occurred in April 2014.

Vesta is approaching the minimum distance to our planet every 3-4 years. Without a telescope, you can see it only in conditions of good visibility. However, it does not differ from ordinary stars.

Motion

Vesta's orbit lies in the inner part of the Main Belt of Asteroids. Its shape is only a little stretched - it is almost an ideal circle. Orbit is characterized by a slight slope to the plane of the ecliptic. Vesta makes one revolution around the Sun for 3.6 years. In this case, the asteroid does not intersect the orbit of our planet during its motion.

Automatic interplanetary station Dawn

In 2011, in July, Vesta passed the point of the minimum distance to our planet. This period was used for a detailed study of the asteroid. Back in 2007, Vannes was sent to the AMC Dawn. The mission of the device is the study of this asteroid, as well as the dwarf planet of Ceres.

On the circular orbit of Vesta Dawn was released on July 16, 2011. By December 12, he had reached a minimum height above the asteroid. Among the tasks of the device were the measurement of the gravitational field, the determination of the spectrum of neutrons and gamma quanta, which appears when cosmic rays fall on the asteroid Vesta. Photo of the object began to arrive on Earth on December 13.

AMC Dawn left the asteroid on September 5, 2012 and went to Ceres. For today (December 2015) the device continues its work in the orbit of the dwarf planet.

Sight

Vesta is an asteroid, carefully "inspected" by the Hubble telescope. The research was carried out in the 90s of the last century. Hubble studied the surface of the asteroid. The most impressive detail of the relief was a giant crater, later named Rejasilvia. The track, supposedly left over from the collision, is characterized by a diameter of 460 km and a depth of 13 km. Scientists still can not answer the question of how Vesta could survive such a blow.

AMC Dawn also studied the state of the crater. According to the assumptions of scientists, Rejasilvia was formed 1 billion years ago. The crater pool partially hides the trail from yet another older strike, called the crater of Veneneya. In the center of Reyasylvia is a mountain 22 km high and 180 km in diameter. In terms of its parameters, it is ahead of the giant Olympus on Mars, previously considered the highest known mountain in the solar system.

Scientists suggest that the substance ejected during the impact served as a material for the emergence of objects of the Vesta family and class A asteroids.

Researchers are looking for similar objects, as they can tell a lot about the time when the solar system was just forming. Vesta is an asteroid, similar in composition to the terrestrial planets. Most likely, its study will tell a lot of astronomers about the distant past of our piece of the Galaxy.