Vesta at opposition
BEST TIME TO SEE: All month, brightest at opposition on 4 March
Minor planet Vesta reaches opposition on 4 March when it will appear like a mag. +5.9 star in the constellation of Leo, the Lion. Despite its stellar appearance, Vesta is a Solar System body and this can be revealed by recording the field of view in which Vesta sits over as many nights as possible during the month.
You’ll find that binoculars or a telescope using a low power eyepiece will be the best tools for this. If you manage to record Vesta in the field of view, its presence will become obvious when you compare observations; it will be the object that moves against the background star field.
A number of fainter asteroids are located near to Vesta’s position within Leo. Taking a number of wide-field shots of the constellation will reveal their dim dots moving against the background stars.
At mag. +5.9 Vesta is on the threshold of naked-eye visibility and this month’s ‘Sky Guide Challenge’ on page 56 is to try and spot it unaided. During optimum oppositions Vesta can reach mag. +5.1 and this year’s brightness isn’t too far off.
Vesta starts the month to the east of mag. +3.3 Chertan (Theta (θ) Leonis) and tracks slowly to the northwest, passing into the main body of the Lion as defined by Chertan, Zosma (Delta (d) Leonis), Algieba (Gamma (g) Leonis) and Regulus (Alpha (a) Leonis). Leo is well-placed in March and dark-sky conditions will allow us to view Vesta and the galaxies which lie within the constellation’s border.
By the month’s end Vesta lies 1˚ southeast of mag. +5.5, 51 Leonis. On the 31st, Vesta will have dimmed to mag. +6.4.