Vesta at Opposition

Today the minor planet 4 Vesta will pass through opposition.

4 Vesta is one of the largest objects orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, a region often referred to as the Asteroid Belt. This is the second largest asteroid, at 530km (329miles) in diameter. It is also usually the brightest asteroid that can seen by earthbound observers. When Vesta is at opposition it is bright enough to be just visible to the unaided eye, usually around 6th magnitude.

This year Vesta will reach magnitude 5.7 at opposition. This magnitude requires a dark site to view without the aid of a telescope. Precise knowledge of the location is also helpful. Given these two items it becomes possible to see an asteroid with the unaided eye.

The minor planet is currently located in Virgo about 2.5° northwest of τVir. Interestingly enough the dwarf planet 1 Ceres will be located about 2° east and a touch south of Vesta. Despite being much larger than Vesta it will be over a full magnitude dimmer at about 6.9 magnitude.

Vesta was visited by the Dawn spacecraft during 2011 and 2012. Dawn is now on course for Ceres with a planned rendevouz in February 2015.

Vesta 28May2007
Vesta (marked), Jupiter and Summer Milky Way, 40s, 17mm@f/4, fixed tripod on 28May2007

Venus and Neptune

Over the next few days Venus will swing quite close to Neptune. Today the pair is separated by 2°41′. This will decrease to 49′ on the 11th and remain close at 51′ on the 12th.

The pair is quite a mismatch… Neptune is a mere 7.9 magnitude while Venus is a brilliant -4.2, over 60,000 times brighter. The 4.8 magnitude star σAqr will be 1.5° southwest of the two, the only nearby object that can be confused for the planet.

Next month, on May 15th, Venus will pass about 1° from to Uranus for a similar oddball conjunction.

Flowing Water

The flowing stream. An easy and fun shot that should be in any photographers skill set. Not only a pretty shot that captures the feel of a flowing stream, but a shot that teaches a little basic photography in the taking.

Hamakua Stream
A stream tumbles through boulders on the Hamakua Coast
This shot was taken at the Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Gardens at Onomea Bay north of Hilo. Several typical rainforest streams tumble through the gardens flowing to the cove below. This is a shot that can be taken thousands of places on this rainy coastline, there are hundreds of streams and waterfalls to choose from. This one happens to have a little bridge to keep your feet and tripod dry.

While I was taking this shot another couple was taking the same photo beside me on the bridge. They wondered what I did to get the shot they saw on my screen. I offered them a turn on my tripod for a moment and talked them through the steps needed to create the flowing stream look. The Canon Rebel T5i they were using was perfectly capable of achieving the same effect. A minute later they had succeeded, happy with a very pretty photo. I suspect they learned a little in the process.

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