(4) Vesta
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	31 Mar 2025	6.5	2.199 AU	1.331 AU	15h13m	-06°15'	141.0°	16.6°
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)                : 0.0901071
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3613975
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.14394
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 103.70297
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 151.58335
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 332.45069
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 75.47281
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.39284
            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
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   15 13 41.7   -06 15 37     1.331    2.199  141.0   16.6   271    6.5 
2025-03-31 00:27 UT   15 13 41.4   -06 15 33     1.331    2.199  141.1   16.6   271    6.5 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   15 13 25.5   -06 11 45     1.323    2.199  142.0   16.2   271    6.4 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   15 13 07.3   -06 07 49     1.316    2.198  143.0   15.9   270    6.4 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   15 12 47.2   -06 03 50     1.308    2.197  144.1   15.5   270    6.4 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   15 12 25.2   -05 59 49     1.301    2.197  145.1   15.1   269    6.4 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   15 12 01.4   -05 55 46     1.294    2.196  146.1   14.7   268    6.3 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   15 11 35.7   -05 51 41     1.287    2.195  147.1   14.3   267    6.3 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   15 11 08.2   -05 47 34     1.280    2.195  148.1   13.9   267    6.3 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   15 10 38.9   -05 43 26     1.273    2.194  149.2   13.5   266    6.3 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   15 10 07.9   -05 39 18     1.267    2.193  150.2   13.1   265    6.2 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   15 09 35.1   -05 35 08     1.261    2.193  151.2   12.7   264    6.2 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   15 09 00.6   -05 30 59     1.255    2.192  152.2   12.3   263    6.2 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   15 08 24.4   -05 26 49     1.249    2.191  153.3   11.9   262    6.2 
2025-04-13 00:00 UT   15 07 46.6   -05 22 40     1.244    2.191  154.3   11.5   261    6.1 
2025-04-14 00:00 UT   15 07 07.3   -05 18 32     1.238    2.190  155.3   11.0   259    6.1 
2025-04-15 00:00 UT   15 06 26.4   -05 14 25     1.233    2.189  156.3   10.6   258    6.1 
2025-04-16 00:00 UT   15 05 44.0   -05 10 20     1.229    2.189  157.3   10.2   256    6.1 
2025-04-17 00:00 UT   15 05 00.1   -05 06 16     1.224    2.188  158.3    9.8   255    6.0 
2025-04-18 00:00 UT   15 04 14.9   -05 02 15     1.219    2.187  159.2    9.4   253    6.0 
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   15 03 28.3   -04 58 16     1.215    2.187  160.2    9.0   251    6.0 
2025-04-20 00:00 UT   15 02 40.4   -04 54 21     1.211    2.186  161.1    8.6   249    6.0 
2025-04-21 00:00 UT   15 01 51.3   -04 50 29     1.208    2.186  162.0    8.2   246    5.9 
2025-04-22 00:00 UT   15 01 01.1   -04 46 41     1.204    2.185  162.9    7.8   244    5.9 
2025-04-23 00:00 UT   15 00 09.7   -04 42 57     1.201    2.184  163.7    7.4   241    5.9 
2025-04-24 00:00 UT   14 59 17.4   -04 39 18     1.198    2.184  164.5    7.1   238    5.9 
2025-04-25 00:00 UT   14 58 24.1   -04 35 44     1.195    2.183  165.3    6.7   234    5.8 
2025-04-26 00:00 UT   14 57 29.9   -04 32 15     1.193    2.183  166.0    6.4   230    5.8 
2025-04-27 00:00 UT   14 56 34.9   -04 28 53     1.190    2.182  166.6    6.1   226    5.8 
2025-04-28 00:00 UT   14 55 39.2   -04 25 37     1.188    2.181  167.1    5.9   221    5.8 
2025-04-29 00:00 UT   14 54 43.0   -04 22 28     1.187    2.181  167.6    5.7   216    5.8 
2025-04-30 00:00 UT   14 53 46.1   -04 19 26     1.185    2.180  167.9    5.5   210    5.8 

    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.