Editing 4 Vesta (section)

== Visibility ==
{{stack|[[File:Asteroid Vesta.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|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 the [[naked eye]] from dark skies (without [[light pollution]]). In May and June 2007, Vesta reached a peak [[apparent magnitude|magnitude]] of +5.4, the brightest since 1989.<ref name="SkyTelescope2007a"/> At that time, [[opposition (astronomy)|opposition]] and [[perihelion]] were only a few weeks apart.<ref name="SkyTelescope2007b"/> It was brighter still at its 22 June 2018 opposition, reaching a magnitude of +5.3.<ref>{{cite book | title=Cosmic Challenge: The Ultimate Observing List for Amateurs | publisher=Cambridge University Press | date=21 October 2010 | last=Harrington | first=Philip S. | page=75 | isbn=9781139493680}}</ref>
Less favorable oppositions during late autumn 2008 in the [[Northern Hemisphere]] still had Vesta at a magnitude of from +6.5 to +7.3.<ref name=James2008/> Even when in [[astronomical conjunction|conjunction]] with the Sun, Vesta will have a magnitude around +8.5; thus from a pollution-free sky it can be observed with [[binoculars]] even at [[Elongation (astronomy)|elongations]] much smaller than near opposition.<ref name="James2008"/>

===2010–2011===
In 2010, Vesta reached opposition in the [[constellation]] of [[Leo (constellation)|Leo]] on the night of 17–18 February, at about magnitude 6.1,<ref name="Horizons"/> a brightness that makes it visible in binocular range but generally not for the [[Naked-eye stars|naked 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 of [[Capricornus]] at about magnitude 5.6.<ref name="Horizons"/><ref name="MPC-eph"/>

===2012–2013===
Vesta was at opposition again on 9 December 2012.<ref name="NightSkyOnline"/> According to ''[[Sky and Telescope]]'' magazine, this year Vesta came within about 6 degrees of [[1 Ceres]] during the winter of 2012 and spring 2013.<ref name=flanders/> 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).<ref name="flanders"/> On 1 December 2012, Vesta had a magnitude of 6.6, but it had decreased to 8.4 by 1 May 2013.<ref name=flanders/>

===2014===
{{stack|[[File:Ceres Vesta July 5 2014.png|thumb|Conjunction of Ceres and Vesta near the star [[Gamma Virginis]] on 5 July 2014 in the [[Constellation]] of [[Virgo (constellation)|Virgo]].|alt=]]}}

Ceres and Vesta came within one degree of each other in the night sky in July 2014.<ref name=flanders/>