(4) Vesta
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	1 Feb 2023	8.5	2.446 AU	3.036 AU	23h56m	-06°38'	45.3°	16.6°
Opposition	21 Dec 2023	6.4	2.566 AU	1.583 AU	05h57m	+20°31'	177.1°	1.1°

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)                : 0.0887575
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3630382
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.13926
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 103.75733
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 151.59911
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 115.13301
            Epoch                           : 2023 Feb 25

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 75.54262
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.38890
            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
2023-02-01 00:00 UT   23 56 30.5   -06 38 31     3.036    2.446   45.3   16.6    72    8.5 
2023-02-01 00:36 UT   23 56 32.8   -06 38 14     3.037    2.446   45.3   16.6    72    8.5 
2023-02-02 00:00 UT   23 58 04.2   -06 27 15     3.047    2.447   44.7   16.5    72    8.5 
2023-02-03 00:00 UT   23 59 38.2   -06 15 59     3.057    2.448   44.2   16.3    72    8.5 
2023-02-04 00:00 UT   00 01 12.3   -06 04 42     3.066    2.449   43.6   16.1    72    8.5 
2023-02-05 00:00 UT   00 02 46.6   -05 53 24     3.076    2.449   43.0   15.9    73    8.5 
2023-02-06 00:00 UT   00 04 21.0   -05 42 06     3.086    2.450   42.4   15.8    73    8.5 
2023-02-07 00:00 UT   00 05 55.6   -05 30 47     3.096    2.451   41.9   15.6    73    8.5 
2023-02-08 00:00 UT   00 07 30.4   -05 19 28     3.105    2.452   41.3   15.4    73    8.5 
2023-02-09 00:00 UT   00 09 05.3   -05 08 09     3.115    2.453   40.7   15.2    73    8.5 
2023-02-10 00:00 UT   00 10 40.4   -04 56 49     3.124    2.454   40.2   15.0    73    8.5 
2023-02-11 00:00 UT   00 12 15.6   -04 45 29     3.133    2.455   39.6   14.8    73    8.5 
2023-02-12 00:00 UT   00 13 51.0   -04 34 08     3.142    2.456   39.0   14.7    73    8.5 
2023-02-13 00:00 UT   00 15 26.5   -04 22 47     3.151    2.456   38.5   14.5    74    8.5 
2023-02-14 00:00 UT   00 17 02.2   -04 11 27     3.160    2.457   37.9   14.3    74    8.5 
2023-02-15 00:00 UT   00 18 38.0   -04 00 06     3.169    2.458   37.3   14.1    74    8.5 
2023-02-16 00:00 UT   00 20 14.0   -03 48 44     3.178    2.459   36.8   13.9    74    8.5 
2023-02-17 00:00 UT   00 21 50.2   -03 37 23     3.187    2.460   36.2   13.7    74    8.5 
2023-02-18 00:00 UT   00 23 26.4   -03 26 02     3.195    2.461   35.6   13.5    74    8.5 
2023-02-19 00:00 UT   00 25 02.8   -03 14 41     3.204    2.461   35.1   13.3    74    8.5 
2023-02-20 00:00 UT   00 26 39.4   -03 03 20     3.212    2.462   34.5   13.2    75    8.5 

    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.