Vesta is thought to be the second-largestasteroid, both by mass and by volume, after thedwarf planetCeres.[20][21][22] Measurements give it a nominal volume only slightly larger than that ofPallas (about 5% greater), but it is 25% to 30% more massive. It constitutes an estimated 9% of the mass of theasteroid belt.[23] Vesta is the only known remaining rockyprotoplanet (with adifferentiated interior) of the kind that formed theterrestrial planets.[24][25][26] Numerous fragments of Vesta were ejected by collisions one and two billion years ago that left two enormous craters occupying much of Vesta's southern hemisphere.[27][28] Debris from these events has fallen to Earth ashowardite–eucrite–diogenite (HED) meteorites, which have been a rich source of information about Vesta.[29][30][31]
Vesta is thebrightest asteroid visible from Earth. It is regularly as bright asmagnitude 5.1,[18] at which times it is faintly visible to the naked eye. Its maximum distance from theSun is slightly greater than the minimum distance of Ceres from the Sun,[e] although its orbit lies entirely within that of Ceres.[32]
NASA'sDawn spacecraft entered orbit around Vesta on 16 July 2011 for a one-year exploration and left the orbit of Vesta on 5 September 2012[33] en route to its final destination, Ceres. Researchers continue to examine data collected byDawn for additional insights into the formation and history of Vesta.[34][35]
Vesta,Ceres, and theMoon with sizes shown to scale
Heinrich Olbers discoveredPallas in 1802, the year after the discovery ofCeres. He proposed that the two objects were the remnants of adestroyed planet. He sent a letter with his proposal to the British astronomerWilliam Herschel, suggesting that a search near the locations where the orbits of Ceres and Pallas intersected might reveal more fragments. These orbital intersections were located in theconstellations ofCetus andVirgo.[36] Olbers commenced his search in 1802, and on 29 March 1807 he discovered Vesta in the constellation Virgo—a coincidence, because Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta are not fragments of a larger body. Because the asteroidJuno had been discovered in 1804, this made Vesta the fourth object to be identified in the region that is now known as theasteroid belt. The discovery was announced in a letter addressed to German astronomerJohann H. Schröter dated 31 March.[37] Because Olbers already had credit for discovering a planet (Pallas; at the time, the asteroids were considered to be planets), he gave the honor of naming his new discovery to German mathematicianCarl Friedrich Gauss, whose orbital calculations had enabled astronomers to confirm the existence of Ceres, the first asteroid, and who had computed the orbit of the new planet in the remarkably short time of 10 hours.[38][39] Gauss decided on theRoman virgin goddess of home and hearth,Vesta.[40]
Vesta was the fourth asteroid to be discovered, hence the number 4 in its formal designation. The nameVesta, or national variants thereof, is in international use with two exceptions:Greece and China. InGreek, the name adopted was the Hellenic equivalent of Vesta,Hestia(4Εστία); in English, that name is used for46 Hestia (Greeks use the name "Hestia" for both, with the minor-planet numbers used for disambiguation). InChinese, Vesta is called the 'hearth-god(dess) star',灶神星Zàoshénxīng, naming the asteroid for Vesta's role, similar to the Chinese names ofUranus,Neptune, andPluto.[f]
Upon its discovery, Vesta was, like Ceres, Pallas, and Juno before it, classified as a planet and given aplanetary symbol. The symbol represented the altar of Vesta with itssacred fire and was designed by Gauss.[41][42] In Gauss's conception, now obsolete, this was drawn. His form is in the pipeline forUnicode 17.0 as U+1F777.[43][44][g]The asteroid symbols were gradually retired from astronomical use after 1852, but the symbols for the first four asteroids were resurrected for astrology in the 1970s. The abbreviated modern astrological variant of the Vesta symbol is (U+26B6⚶).[43][h]
After the discovery of Vesta, no further objects were discovered for 38 years, and during this time the Solar System was thought to have eleven planets.[49] However, in 1845, new asteroids started being discovered at a rapid pace, and by 1851 there were fifteen, each with its own symbol, in addition to the eight major planets (Neptune had been discovered in 1846). It soon became clear that it would be impractical to continue inventing new planetary symbols indefinitely, and some of the existing ones proved difficult to draw quickly. That year, the problem was addressed byBenjamin Apthorp Gould, who suggested numbering asteroids in their order of discovery, and placing this number in a disk (circle) as the generic symbol of an asteroid. Thus, the fourth asteroid, Vesta, acquired the generic symbol④. This was soon coupled with the name into an official number–name designation,④ Vesta, as the number of minor planets increased. By 1858, the circle had been simplified to parentheses,(4) Vesta, which were easier to typeset. Other punctuation, such as4) Vesta and4, Vesta, was also briefly used, but had more or less completely died out by 1949.[50]
SPHERE image is shown on the left, with a synthetic view derived fromDawn images shown on the right for comparison.[51]
Photometric observations of Vesta were made at theHarvard College Observatory in 1880–1882 and at theObservatoire de Toulouse in 1909. These and other observations allowed the rotation rate of Vesta to be determined by the 1950s. However, the early estimates of the rotation rate came into question because thelight curve included variations in both shape andalbedo.[52]
Early estimates of the diameter of Vesta ranged from 383 kilometres (238 mi) in 1825, to 444 km (276 mi).E.C. Pickering produced an estimated diameter of 513 ± 17 km (319 ± 11 mi) in 1879, which is close to the modern value for the mean diameter, but the subsequent estimates ranged from a low of 390 km (242 mi) up to a high of 602 km (374 mi) during the next century. The measured estimates were based onphotometry. In 1989,speckle interferometry was used to measure a dimension that varied between 498 and 548 km (309 and 341 mi) during the rotational period.[53] In 1991, anoccultation of the starSAO 93228 by Vesta was observed from multiple locations in the eastern United States and Canada. Based on observations from 14 different sites, the best fit to the data was an elliptical profile with dimensions of about 550 km × 462 km (342 mi × 287 mi).[54]Dawn confirmed this measurement.[i] These measurements will help determine the thermal history, size of the core, role of water in asteroid evolution and what meteorites found on Earth come from these bodies, with the ultimate goal of understanding the conditions and processes present at the solar system's earliest epoch and the role of water content and size in planetary evolution.[55]
Vesta became the first asteroid to have its mass determined. Every 18 years, the asteroid197 Arete approaches within0.04 AU of Vesta. In 1966, based upon observations of Vesta'sgravitational perturbations of Arete, Hans G. Hertz estimated the mass of Vesta at(1.20±0.08)×10−10 M☉ (solar masses).[56] More refined estimates followed, and in 2001 the perturbations of17 Thetis were used to calculate the mass of Vesta to be(1.31±0.02)×10−10 M☉.[57]Dawn determined it to be1.3029×10−10 M☉.
Vesta orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, within theasteroid belt, with a period of 3.6 Earth years,[6] specifically in the inner asteroid belt, interior to theKirkwood gap at 2.50 AU. Its orbit is moderately inclined (i = 7.1°, compared to 7° forMercury and 17° forPluto) and moderatelyeccentric (e = 0.09, about the same as for Mars).[6]
Trueorbital resonances between asteroids are considered unlikely. Because of their small masses relative to their large separations, such relationships should be very rare.[58] Nevertheless, Vesta is able to capture other asteroids into temporary 1:1 resonant orbital relationships (for periods up to 2 million years or more) and about forty such objects have been identified.[59] Decameter-sized objects detected in the vicinity of Vesta byDawn may be suchquasi-satellites rather than proper satellites.[59]
Olbers Regio (dark area) defines the prime meridian in the IAU coordinate system. It is shown here in aHubble shot of Vesta, because it is not visible in the more detailedDawn images.
Claudia crater (indicated by the arrow at the bottom of the closeup image at right) defines the prime meridian in theDawn/NASA coordinate system.
Vesta's rotation is relatively fast for an asteroid (5.342 h) andprograde, with the north pole pointing in the direction ofright ascension 20 h 32 min,declination +48° (in the constellationCygnus) with an uncertainty of about 10°. This gives anaxial tilt of 29°.[60]
Two longitudinal coordinate systems are used for Vesta, withprime meridians separated by 150°. TheIAU established a coordinate system in 1997 based onHubble photos, with the prime meridian running through the center ofOlbers Regio, a dark feature 200 km across. WhenDawn arrived at Vesta, mission scientists found that the location of the pole assumed by the IAU was off by 10°, so that the IAU coordinate system drifted across the surface of Vesta at 0.06° per year, and also that Olbers Regio was not discernible from up close, and so was not adequate to define the prime meridian with the precision they needed. They corrected the pole, but also established a new prime meridian 4° from the center ofClaudia, a sharply defined crater 700 meters across, which they say results in a more logical set of mapping quadrangles.[61] All NASA publications, including images and maps of Vesta, use the Claudian meridian, which is unacceptable to the IAU. The IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements recommended a coordinate system, correcting the pole but rotating the Claudian longitude by 150° to coincide with Olbers Regio.[62] It was accepted by the IAU, although it disrupts the maps prepared by theDawn team, which had been positioned so they would not bisect any major surface features.[61][63]
Relative sizes of the four largest asteroids. Vesta is second from left.
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
The mass of 4 Vesta (blue) compared to other large asteroids:1 Ceres,2 Pallas,10 Hygiea,704 Interamnia,15 Eunomia and the remainder of the Main Belt. The unit of mass is×1018 kg. Other objects in the Solar system with well-defined masses within a factor of 2 of Vesta's mass areVarda,Gǃkúnǁʼhòmdímà, andSalacia (245, 136, and 492×1018 kg. respectively). No moons are in this range: the closest,Tethys(Saturn III) andEnceladus(Saturn II), are over twice and less than half of Vesta's mass.
Vesta is the second most massive body in theasteroid belt, although it is only 28% as massive as Ceres, the most massive body.[64][23] Vesta is however the most massive body that formed in the asteroid belt, as Ceres is believed to have formed between Jupiter and Saturn. Vesta's density is lower than those of the fourterrestrial planets but is higher than those of most asteroids, as well as all of the moons in the Solar System exceptIo. Vesta's surface area is about the same as the land area ofPakistan,Venezuela,Tanzania, orNigeria; slightly under 900,000 square kilometres (350,000 sq mi; 90,000,000 ha; 220,000,000 acres). It has a differentiated interior.[24] Vesta is only slightly larger (525.4±0.2 km[10]) than2 Pallas (512±3 km) in mean diameter,[65] but is about 25% more massive.
Temperatures on the surface have been estimated to lie between about −20 °C (253 K) with theSun overhead, dropping to about −190 °C (83.1 K) at the winter pole. Typical daytime and nighttime temperatures are −60 °C (213 K) and −130 °C (143 K), respectively. This estimate is for 6 May 1996, very close toperihelion, although details vary somewhat with the seasons.[16]
Before the arrival of theDawn spacecraft, some Vestan surface features had already been resolved using theHubble Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes (e.g., theKeck Observatory).[69] The arrival ofDawn in July 2011 revealed the complex surface of Vesta in detail.[70]
Geologic map of Vesta (Mollweide projection).[71] The most ancient and heavily cratered regions are brown; areas modified by theVeneneia andRheasilvia impacts are purple (the Saturnalia Fossae Formation, in the north)[72] and light cyan (the Divalia Fossae Formation, equatorial),[71] respectively; the Rheasilvia impact basin interior (in the south) is dark blue, and neighboring areas of Rheasilvia ejecta (including an area within Veneneia) are light purple-blue;[73][74] areas modified by more recent impacts or mass wasting are yellow/orange or green, respectively.
Northern (left) and southern (right) hemispheres. The "Snowman" craters are at the top of the left image; Rheasilvia and Veneneia (green and blue) dominate the right. Parallel troughs are seen in both. Colors of the two hemispheres are not to scale,[j] and the equatorial region is not shown.South pole of Vesta, showing the extent of Rheasilvia crater.
The most prominent of these surface features are two enormous impact basins, the 500-kilometre (311 mi)-wide Rheasilvia, centered near the south pole; and the 400 km (249 mi) wide Veneneia. The Rheasilvia impact basin is younger and overlies the Veneneia.[75] TheDawn science team named the younger, more prominent craterRheasilvia, after the mother of Romulus and Remus and a mythicalvestal virgin.[76] Its width is 95% of the mean diameter of Vesta. The crater is about 19 km (12 mi) deep. A central peak rises 23 km (14 mi) above the lowest measured part of the crater floor and the highest measured part of the crater rim is 31 km (19 mi) above the crater floor low point. It is estimated that the impact responsible excavated about 1% of the volume of Vesta, and it is likely that theVesta family andV-type asteroids are the products of this collision. If this is the case, then the fact that 10 km (6.2 mi) fragments have survived bombardment until the present indicates that the crater is at most only about 1 billion years old.[77] It would also be the site of origin of theHED meteorites. All the known V-type asteroids taken together account for only about 6% of the ejected volume, with the rest presumably either in small fragments, ejected by approaching the 3:1 Kirkwood gap, or perturbed away by theYarkovsky effect orradiation pressure.Spectroscopic analyses of the Hubble images have shown that this crater has penetrated deep through several distinct layers of the crust, and possibly into themantle, as indicated by spectral signatures ofolivine.[60]
The large peak at the center of Rheasilvia is 20 to 25 km (12–16 mi) high and 180 km (112 mi) wide,[75] and is possibly a result of a planetary-scale impact.[78]
The crater AeliaFeralia Planitia, an old, degraded impact basin or impact basin complex near Vesta's equator (green and blue). It is 270 km (168 mi) across and predates Rheasilvia (green at bottom)
Several old, degraded craters approach Rheasilvia and Veneneia in size, although none are quite so large. They includeFeralia Planitia, shown at right, which is 270 km (168 mi) across.[79] More-recent, sharper craters range up to 158 km (98 mi) Varronilla and 196 km (122 mi) Postumia.[80]
Dust fills up some craters, creating so-calleddust ponds. They are a phenomenon where pockets of dust are seen in celestial bodies without a significant atmosphere. These are smooth deposits of dust accumulated in depressions on the surface of the body (like craters), contrasting from the Rocky terrain around them.[81] On the surface of Vesta, we have identified both type 1 (formed from impact melt) and type 2 (electrostatically made)dust ponds within 0˚–30°N/S, that is, Equatorial region. 10 craters have been identified with such formations.[82]
The "snowman craters" are a group of three adjacent craters in Vesta's northern hemisphere. Their official names, from largest to smallest (west to east), are Marcia, Calpurnia, and Minucia. Marcia is the youngest and cross-cuts Calpurnia. Minucia is the oldest.[71]
"Snowman" craters byDawn from 5,200 km (3,200 mi) in 2011
The majority of the equatorial region of Vesta is sculpted by a series of parallel troughs designatedDivalia Fossae; its longest trough is 10–20 kilometres (6.2–12.4 mi) wide and 465 kilometres (289 mi) long. Despite the fact that Vesta is a one-seventh the size of the Moon, Divalia Fossae dwarfs theGrand Canyon. A second series, inclined to the equator, is found further north. This northern trough system is namedSaturnalia Fossae, with its largest trough being roughly 40 km wide and over 370 km long. These troughs are thought to be large-scalegraben resulting from the impacts that created Rheasilvia and Veneneia craters, respectively. They are some of thelongest chasms in the Solar System, nearly as long asIthaca Chasma onTethys. The troughs may be graben that formed after another asteroid collided with Vesta, a process that can happen only in a body that, like Vesta, is differentiated.[83] Vesta's differentiation is one of the reasons why scientists consider it a protoplanet.[84] Alternatively, it is proposed that the troughs may be radial sculptures created by secondary cratering from Rheasilvia.[85]
A section of Divalia Fossae, with parallel troughs to the north and south
A computer-generated view of a portion of Divalia Fossae
Compositional information from the visible and infrared spectrometer (VIR), gamma-ray and neutron detector (GRaND), and framing camera (FC), all indicate that the majority of the surface composition of Vesta is consistent with the composition of the howardite, eucrite, and diogenite meteorites.[86][87][88] The Rheasilvia region is richest in diogenite, consistent with the Rheasilvia-forming impact excavating material from deeper within Vesta. The presence of olivine within the Rheasilvia region would also be consistent with excavation of mantle material. However, olivine has only been detected in localized regions of the northern hemisphere, not within Rheasilvia.[34] The origin of this olivine is currently unclear. Though olivine was expected by astronomers to have originated from Vesta's mantle prior to the arrival of theDawn orbiter, the lack of olivine within the Rheasilvia and Veneneia impact basins complicates this view. Both impact basins excavated Vestian material down to 60–100 km, far deeper than the expected thickness of ~30–40 km for Vesta's crust. Vesta's crust may be far thicker than expected or the violent impact events that created Rheasilvia and Veneneia may have mixed material enough to obscure olivine from observations. Alternatively,Dawn observations of olivine could instead be due to delivery by olivine-rich impactors, unrelated to Vesta's internal structure.[89]
Pitted terrain has been observed in four craters on Vesta: Marcia, Cornelia, Numisia and Licinia.[90] The formation of the pitted terrain is proposed to be degassing of impact-heated volatile-bearing material. Along with the pitted terrain, curvilinear gullies are found in Marcia and Cornelia craters. The curvilinear gullies end in lobate deposits, which are sometimes covered by pitted terrain, and are proposed to form by the transient flow of liquid water after buried deposits of ice were melted by the heat of the impacts.[72] Hydrated materials have also been detected, many of which are associated with areas of dark material.[91] Consequently, dark material is thought to be largely composed of carbonaceous chondrite, which was deposited on the surface by impacts. Carbonaceous chondrites are comparatively rich in mineralogically bound OH.[88]
Cut-away schematic of Vestan core, mantle, and crustEucrite meteorite
A large collection of potential samples from Vesta is accessible to scientists, in the form of over 1200 HED meteorites (Vestanachondrites), giving insight into Vesta's geologic history and structure.NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (NASA IRTF) studies of asteroid(237442) 1999 TA10 suggest that it originated from deeper within Vesta than the HED meteorites.[25]
Vesta is the only known intact asteroid that has been resurfaced in this manner. Because of this, some scientists refer to Vesta as a protoplanet.[97] However, the presence ofiron meteorites and achondritic meteorite classes without identified parent bodies indicates that there once were other differentiatedplanetesimals withigneous histories, which have since been shattered by impacts.[citation needed]
On the basis of the sizes ofV-type asteroids (thought to be pieces of Vesta's crust ejected during large impacts), and the depth of Rheasilvia crater (see below), the crust is thought to be roughly 10 kilometres (6 mi) thick.[99]Findings from theDawn spacecraft have found evidence that the troughs that wrap around Vesta could be graben formed by impact-induced faulting (see Troughs section above), meaning that Vesta has more complex geology than other asteroids. Vesta's differentiated interior implies that it was in hydrostatic equilibrium and thus a dwarf planet in the past, but it is not today.[75] The impacts that created the Rheasilvia and Veneneia craters occurred when Vesta was no longer warm and plastic enough to return to an equilibrium shape, distorting its once rounded shape and prohibiting it from being classified as a dwarf planet today.[citation needed]
Vesta's surface is covered byregolith distinct from that found on theMoon or asteroids such asItokawa. This is becausespace weathering acts differently. Vesta's surface shows no significant trace ofnanophase iron because theimpact speeds on Vesta are too low to make rock melting and vaporization an appreciable process. Instead, regolith evolution is dominated bybrecciation and subsequent mixing of bright and dark components.[100] The dark component is probably due to the infall ofcarbonaceous material, whereas the bright component is the original Vesta basaltic soil.[101]
Animation of Dawn's trajectory from 27 September 2007 to 5 October 2018 Dawn·Earth·Mars· 4 Vesta·1 CeresFirst image ofasteroids (Ceres and Vesta) taken fromMars. The image was made by theCuriosity rover on 20 April 2014.Animation ofDawn's trajectory around 4 Vesta from 15 July 2011 to 10 September 2012 Dawn· 4 Vesta
In 1981, a proposal for an asteroid mission was submitted to theEuropean Space Agency (ESA). Named the Asteroidal Gravity Optical and Radar Analysis (AGORA), thisspacecraft was to launch some time in 1990–1994 and perform two flybys of large asteroids. The preferred target for this mission was Vesta. AGORA would reach the asteroid belt either by agravitational slingshot trajectory past Mars or by means of a smallion engine. However, the proposal was refused by the ESA. A jointNASA–ESA asteroid mission was then drawn up for a Multiple Asteroid Orbiter with Solar Electric Propulsion (MAOSEP), with one of the mission profiles including an orbit of Vesta. NASA indicated they were not interested in an asteroid mission. Instead, the ESA set up a technological study of a spacecraft with an ion drive. Other missions to the asteroid belt were proposed in the 1980s by France, Germany, Italy and the United States, but none were approved.[103] Exploration of Vesta by fly-by andimpacting penetrator was the second main target of the first plan of the multi-aimed SovietVesta mission, developed in cooperation with European countries for realisation in 1991–1994 but canceled due to thedissolution of the Soviet Union.
In the early 1990s, NASA initiated theDiscovery Program, which was intended to be a series of low-cost scientific missions. In 1996, the program's study team recommended a mission to explore the asteroid belt using a spacecraft with an ion engine as a high priority. Funding for this program remained problematic for several years, but by 2004 theDawn vehicle had passed its critical design review[104] and construction proceeded.[citation needed]
It launched on 27 September 2007 as the first space mission to Vesta. On 3 May 2011,Dawn acquired its first targeting image 1.2 million kilometers from Vesta.[105] On 16 July 2011, NASA confirmed that it received telemetry fromDawn indicating that the spacecraft successfully entered Vesta's orbit.[106] It was scheduled to orbit Vesta for one year, until July 2012.[107]Dawn's arrival coincided with late summer in the southern hemisphere of Vesta, with the large crater at Vesta's south pole (Rheasilvia) in sunlight. Because a season on Vesta lasts eleven months, the northern hemisphere, including anticipated compression fractures opposite the crater, would become visible toDawn's cameras before it left orbit.[108]Dawn left orbit around Vesta on 4 September 201211:26 p.m. PDT to travel toCeres.[109]
NASA/DLR released imagery and summary information from a survey orbit, two high-altitude orbits (60–70 m/pixel) and a low-altitude mapping orbit (20 m/pixel), including digital terrain models, videos and atlases.[110][111][112][113][114][115] Scientists also usedDawn to calculate Vesta's precise mass and gravity field. The subsequent determination of the J2 component yielded a core diameter estimate of about 220 km assuming a crustal density similar to that of the HED.[110]
Dawn data can be accessed by the public at theUCLA website.[116]
Albedo and spectral maps of 4 Vesta, as determined from Hubble Space Telescope images from November 1994
Elevation map of 4 Vesta, as determined from Hubble Space Telescope images of May 1996
Elevation diagram of 4 Vesta (as determined fromHubble Space Telescope images of May 1996) viewed from the south-east, showingRheasilvia crater at the south pole andFeralia Planitia near the equator
Detailed images retrieved during the high-altitude (60–70 m/pixel) and low-altitude (~20 m/pixel) mapping orbits are available on the Dawn Mission website of JPL/NASA.[118]
Annotated image from Earth's surface in June 2007 with (4) Vesta
Its size and unusually bright surface make Vesta the brightest asteroid, and it is occasionally visible to thenaked eye from dark skies (withoutlight pollution). In May and June 2007, Vesta reached a peakmagnitude of +5.4, the brightest since 1989.[119] At that time,opposition andperihelion were only a few weeks apart.[120] It was brighter still at its 22 June 2018 opposition, reaching a magnitude of +5.3.[121]Less favorable oppositions during late autumn 2008 in theNorthern Hemisphere still had Vesta at a magnitude of from +6.5 to +7.3.[122] Even when inconjunction with the Sun, Vesta will have a magnitude around +8.5; thus from a pollution-free sky it can be observed withbinoculars even atelongations much smaller than near opposition.[122]
In 2010, Vesta reached opposition in theconstellation ofLeo on the night of 17–18 February, at about magnitude 6.1,[123] a brightness that makes it visible in binocular range but generally not for thenaked eye. Under perfect dark sky conditions where all light pollution is absent it might be visible to an experienced observer without the use of a telescope or binoculars. Vesta came to opposition again on 5 August 2011, in the constellation ofCapricornus at about magnitude 5.6.[123][124]
Vesta was at opposition again on 9 December 2012.[125] According toSky and Telescope magazine, this year Vesta came within about 6 degrees of1 Ceres during the winter of 2012 and spring 2013.[126] Vesta orbits the Sun in 3.63 years and Ceres in 4.6 years, so every 17.4 years Vesta overtakes Ceres (the previous overtaking was in April 1996).[126] On 1 December 2012, Vesta had a magnitude of 6.6, but it had decreased to 8.4 by 1 May 2013.[126]
^Marc Rayman of the JPLDawn team used "Vestian" (analogous to the Greek cognateHestian) a few times in 2010 and early 2011 in hisDawn Journal, and thePlanetary Society continued to use that form for a few more years.[2] The word had been used elsewhere, e.g. inTsiolkovsky (1960)The call of the cosmos. However, otherwise the shorter form "Vestan" has been used by JPL.[3] Most modern print sources also use "Vestan".[4][5] Note that the related word "Vestalian" refers to people or things associated with Vesta, such as thevestal virgins, not to Vesta herself.
^Calculated using the known dimensions assuming anellipsoid.
^Calculated using (1) the known rotation period (5.342 h)[6] and (2) the equatorial radiusReq (285 km)[10] of the best-fit biaxial ellipsoid to Asteroid 4 Vesta.
^abtopocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom[14]
^On 10 February 2009, during Ceresperihelion, Ceres was closer to the Sun than Vesta, because Vesta has anaphelion distance greater than Ceres's perihelion distance. (10 February 2009: Vesta 2.56 AU; Ceres 2.54 AU)
^維斯塔wéisītǎ is the closest Chinese approximation of the Latin pronunciationwesta.
^Some sources contemporaneous to Gauss invented more elaborate forms, such as and.[45][46] A simplification of the latter fromc. 1930,,[47] never caught on.
^This symbol can be seen in the top of the most elaborate of the earlier forms,. It dates from 1973, at the beginning of astrological interest in asteroids.[48]
^The data returned will include, for both asteroids, full surface imagery, full surface spectrometric mapping, elemental abundances, topographic profiles, gravity fields, and mapping of remnant magnetism, if any.[55]
^that is, blue in the north does not mean the same thing as blue in the south.
^Note that there is very strong evidence that6 Hebe is the parent body for H-chondrites, one of the most common meteorite types.
^McSween, H. Y.; R. P. Binzel; M. C. De Sanctis; et al. (27 November 2013). "Dawn; the Vesta-HED connection; and the geologic context for eucrite, diogenites, and howardites".Meteoritics & Planetary Science.48 (11): 2090–21–4.Bibcode:2013M&PS...48.2090M.doi:10.1111/maps.12108.S2CID131100157.
^Koch, Rudolf (1955) [1930].The Book of Signs (reprint ed.). Dover.
^Bach, Eleanor (1973).Ephemerides of the asteroids: Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, 1900–2000. Celestial Communications.Bibcode:1973eacp.book.....B.
^Wells, David A. (1851). Bliss, George Jr. (ed.)."The Planet Hygiea".Annual of Scientific Discovery for the year 1850, quoted by spaceweather.com archives, 2006-09-13. Retrieved1 June 2008.
^McFadden, L. A.; Emerson, G.; Warner, E. M.; Onukwubiti, U.; Li, J.-Y. "Photometry of 4 Vesta from its 2007 Apparition".Proceedings, 39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. League City, Texas.Bibcode:2008LPI....39.2546M.10–14 March 2008
^Beatty, J. Kelly (25 June 2004)."Eros's puzzling surface".Sky and Telescope. Retrieved18 October 2023 – via skyandtelescope.org.To geologists' surprise, the asteroid Eros has more than 250 'ponds' thought to contain compacted deposits of finely ground dust.
^Yamaguchi, A.; Taylor, G. J.; Keil, K. (1995). "Metamorphic History of the Eucritic Crust of 4 Vesta".Meteoritical Society.30 (5): 603.Bibcode:1995Metic..30..603Y.
^Ulivi, Paolo; Harland, David (2008).Robotic Exploration of the Solar System: Hiatus and Renewal, 1983–1996. Springer Praxis Books in Space Exploration. Springer. pp. 117–125.ISBN978-0-387-78904-0.
^Roatsch, Thomas; et al. (2012). "High resolution Vesta High Altitude Mapping Orbit (HAMO) Atlas derived from Dawn framing camera images".Planetary and Space Science.73 (1):283–286.Bibcode:2012P&SS...73..283R.doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.08.021.
^Roatsch, Thomas; et al. (2013). "High-resolution Vesta Low Altitude Mapping Orbit Atlas derived from Dawn Framing Camera images".Planetary and Space Science.85:293–298.Bibcode:2013P&SS...85..293R.doi:10.1016/j.pss.2013.06.024.
^"NASA's Journey Above Vesta".DLR Institute of Planetary Research video with NASA JPL imagery. NASA. 16 September 2011. Archived fromthe original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved18 September 2011.
^Harrington, Philip S. (21 October 2010).Cosmic Challenge: The Ultimate Observing List for Amateurs. Cambridge University Press. p. 75.ISBN9781139493680.
^abJames, Andrew (2008)."Vesta".Southern Astronomical Delights. Retrieved6 November 2008.
^abYeomans, Donald K.; Chamberlin, Alan B."Horizons Ephemeris". JPL Solar System Dynamics. Retrieved9 January 2010.
The Dawn Mission to Minor Planets 4 Vesta and 1 Ceres, Christopher T. Russell and Carol A. Raymond (Editors), Springer (2011),ISBN978-1-4614-4903-4
Keil, K.;Geological History of Asteroid 4 Vesta: The Smallest Terrestrial Planet inAsteroids III, William Bottke, Alberto Cellino, Paolo Paolicchi, and Richard P. Binzel, (Editors), University of Arizona Press (2002),ISBN0-8165-2281-2
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![The 2006 IAU draft proposal on the definition of a planet listed Vesta as a candidate.[117] Vesta is shown fourth from the left along the bottom row.](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aIau_dozen.jpg)
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