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Only Asteroid Visible to Naked Eye in Sky This Week

Posted by michael on from the it's-a-bird-it's-a-plane dept.

chuckpeters writes "Vesta, the only asteroid that can be seen by the naked eye will be visible over the next week. Vesta was the fourth asteroid to be discovered and is the second largest. It is in the constellation Virgo and has just passed opposition. Vesta has very large, circular crater near the asteroid's south pole that is so deep it exposes the mantle. The asteroid appears to have differentiated into layers like the planets."

6 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. Circular crater by nebbian · · Score: 3, Funny

    Vesta has very large, circular crater

    Come on, it's the deathstar, isn't it?

    --
    I am artificially intelligent.
  2. Drat! by c4tp's+friend · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was just thinking I needed to get my telescope out, now it seems I don't need to at all. Oh well, back to my P-Strain Theories anyhow.

    --
    I dont like it when people think about what I think (say). Rather I try to make them think like I think.
  3. OOOo your Mantle is showing by icemax · · Score: 3, Funny
    Vesta has very large, circular crater near the asteroid's south pole that is so deep it exposes the mantle.

    Parents, be forewarned, sky pornography is the leading cause of eyestrain for children of the age 12-18
    --


    __________
    Love conquers all... except CANCER
  4. Northern Hemisphere only ? by OzPixel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There's nothing at starryskies.com (yes, I read (skimmed) the article) to say where you can view this asteroid from. I wish these astronomy sites would remember that it's possible to view the night sky from Down Under too ...

    David (in Melbourne).

  5. Virgo can be seen equally well from both. by MarkusQ · · Score: 5, Informative

    There's nothing at starryskies.com (yes, I read (skimmed) the article) to say where you can view this asteroid from. I wish these astronomy sites would remember that it's possible to view the night sky from Down Under too ...

    It's in the constellation Virgo (see the diagram at the very end of the article). Virgo can be seen from pretty much anywhere on earth (Think about it: the sun spends one month a year in Virgo, and nobody complains that they can't see it from their home town).

    From Melbourne (aka "Mel'b'n") Virgo should be about half way up, to the north, moving across the sky from east to west as the night progresses. Use a southern hemisphere star chart if you need help locating it. The aforementioned diagram tells where to look in Virgo to see the asteroid, depending on the date.

    -- MarkusQ

  6. Very timely, as usual. by Harik · · Score: 4, Funny

    I note the article points out "March 26th, and a week or so aftewards" so slashdot's speedy headline service should read "Wow! You just missed..."