Post by Centaur on Jul 16, 2011 13:49:30 GMT -6
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft was scheduled to begin orbiting asteroid 4 Vesta earlier today (2011 JUL 16): www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/news/dawn20110714.html . We should learn tonight if it succeeded.
Vesta is the brightest of the asteroids and is currently naked-eye visible under dark skies at magnitude + 5.3 in Capricornus. Perigee (closest to Earth) of 1.228 AU will occur on AUG 01. Its greatest brilliance of magnitude +5.2 is expected on AUG 03 with opposition from the Sun on AUG 05.
Interestingly asteroid 9 Metis will achieve its greatest brilliance on the same day as Vesta, AUG 03. Other upcoming dates for the greatest brilliance of major asteroids are 2 Pallas on AUG 25, 192 Nausikaa on SEP 05 and the biggest one, 487-kilometer wide 1 Ceres, on SEP 16. The latter is also scheduled for an eventual visit by the Dawn spacecraft.
400-meter wide asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass Earth by 85% of the distance to the Moon on NOV 08. At about a billionth of the mass of Ceres, it’s not exactly a “huge asteroid” as proclaimed in the sensationalist media. I’d call it a huge meteoroid.
I have charts for all of the above asteroids at www.CurtRenz.com/asteroids . For the last one I provide an animation.
Photos and descriptions of these asteroids would be welcome additions to this thread.
Vesta is the brightest of the asteroids and is currently naked-eye visible under dark skies at magnitude + 5.3 in Capricornus. Perigee (closest to Earth) of 1.228 AU will occur on AUG 01. Its greatest brilliance of magnitude +5.2 is expected on AUG 03 with opposition from the Sun on AUG 05.
Interestingly asteroid 9 Metis will achieve its greatest brilliance on the same day as Vesta, AUG 03. Other upcoming dates for the greatest brilliance of major asteroids are 2 Pallas on AUG 25, 192 Nausikaa on SEP 05 and the biggest one, 487-kilometer wide 1 Ceres, on SEP 16. The latter is also scheduled for an eventual visit by the Dawn spacecraft.
400-meter wide asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass Earth by 85% of the distance to the Moon on NOV 08. At about a billionth of the mass of Ceres, it’s not exactly a “huge asteroid” as proclaimed in the sensationalist media. I’d call it a huge meteoroid.
I have charts for all of the above asteroids at www.CurtRenz.com/asteroids . For the last one I provide an animation.
Photos and descriptions of these asteroids would be welcome additions to this thread.
