(4) Vesta
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Dec 2024	8.1	2.283 AU	2.494 AU	13h42m	-03°47'	66.3°	23.2°
Opposition	1 May 2025	5.7	2.179 AU	1.183 AU	14h52m	-04°15'	168.3°	5.4°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of Vesta are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0900011
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3609252
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.14398
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 103.70474
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 151.67629
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 278.02316
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 75.56713
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.38267
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.63            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2024-12-23 00:00 UT   13 42 46.2   -03 47 18     2.494    2.283   66.3   23.2   294    8.1 
2024-12-23 18:32 UT   13 44 00.2   -03 52 39     2.485    2.283   66.7   23.3   294    8.1 
2024-12-24 00:00 UT   13 44 22.0   -03 54 13     2.482    2.282   66.9   23.3   294    8.1 
2024-12-25 00:00 UT   13 45 57.4   -04 01 03     2.470    2.281   67.5   23.5   294    8.1 
2024-12-26 00:00 UT   13 47 32.4   -04 07 48     2.457    2.280   68.1   23.6   294    8.1 
2024-12-27 00:00 UT   13 49 07.1   -04 14 27     2.445    2.279   68.7   23.7   293    8.1 
2024-12-28 00:00 UT   13 50 41.5   -04 21 00     2.433    2.278   69.3   23.8   293    8.1 
2024-12-29 00:00 UT   13 52 15.4   -04 27 28     2.420    2.278   69.9   23.9   293    8.1 
2024-12-30 00:00 UT   13 53 49.0   -04 33 51     2.408    2.277   70.5   24.0   293    8.1 
2024-12-31 00:00 UT   13 55 22.1   -04 40 07     2.395    2.276   71.1   24.1   293    8.1 
2025-01-01 00:00 UT   13 56 54.8   -04 46 18     2.382    2.275   71.7   24.2   293    8.1 
2025-01-02 00:00 UT   13 58 27.2   -04 52 23     2.370    2.274   72.3   24.3   293    8.0 
2025-01-03 00:00 UT   13 59 59.0   -04 58 22     2.357    2.273   73.0   24.4   292    8.0 
2025-01-04 00:00 UT   14 01 30.4   -05 04 15     2.344    2.272   73.6   24.5   292    8.0 
2025-01-05 00:00 UT   14 03 01.4   -05 10 02     2.332    2.271   74.2   24.6   292    8.0 
2025-01-06 00:00 UT   14 04 31.8   -05 15 43     2.319    2.270   74.8   24.7   292    8.0 
2025-01-07 00:00 UT   14 06 01.8   -05 21 18     2.306    2.269   75.5   24.8   292    8.0 
2025-01-08 00:00 UT   14 07 31.3   -05 26 47     2.293    2.268   76.1   24.9   292    8.0 
2025-01-09 00:00 UT   14 09 00.3   -05 32 09     2.281    2.267   76.7   25.0   291    8.0 
2025-01-10 00:00 UT   14 10 28.8   -05 37 26     2.268    2.266   77.4   25.1   291    8.0 
2025-01-11 00:00 UT   14 11 56.7   -05 42 35     2.255    2.265   78.0   25.1   291    7.9 
2025-01-12 00:00 UT   14 13 24.2   -05 47 39     2.242    2.264   78.7   25.2   291    7.9 
2025-01-13 00:00 UT   14 14 51.0   -05 52 36     2.229    2.263   79.3   25.3   291    7.9 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.