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Vesta, minor-planet designation 4 Vesta, is one of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of 525 kilometres (326 mi). It was discovered by the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on 29 March 1807 and is named after Vesta, the virgin goddess of home and hearth from Roman mythology.
Vesta is the second-most-massive body in the asteroid belt after the dwarf planet Ceres, and it contributes an estimated 9% of the mass of the asteroid belt. Vesta is the second-largest asteroid, only slightly larger than Pallas, but significantly more massive. Vesta is the last remaining rocky protoplanet (with a differentiated interior) of the kind that formed the terrestrial planets. 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. Debris from these events has fallen to Earth as howardite–eucrite–diogenite (HED) meteorites, which have been a rich source of information about Vesta.
Vesta is the brightest asteroid visible from Earth. Its maximum distance from the Sun is slightly greater than the minimum distance of Ceres from the Sun, though its orbit lies entirely within that of Ceres.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around Vesta on 16 July 2011 for a one-year exploration and left orbit on 5 September 2012 en route to its final destination, Ceres. Researchers continue to examine data collected by Dawn for additional insights into the formation and history of Vesta.
Gallery[]
| Minor Planets Navigator | |
|---|---|
| 3 Juno ← Vesta → 5 Astraea | |
| Dwarf Planets and Dwarf Planet Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Asteroid Belt | Consensus | Ceres |
| Possible | Hygeia • Vesta | |
| Centaurs | Possible | Chariklo • Chiron • 2013 TC₁₄₆ • 2014 NW₆₅ |
| Plutinos | Consensus | Orcus • Pluto |
| Possible | Huya • Ixion • 2001 QF₂₉₈ • 2002 VR₁₂₈ • 2002 XV₉₃• 2003 AZ₈₄ • 2003 UZ₄₁₃ • 2003 VS₂ • 2007 JH₄₃ • 2017 OF₆₉ | |
| Twotinos | Possible | 2002 WC₁₉ |
| Cubewanos and other Kuiper Belt Objects | Consensus | Haumea • Makemake • Quaoar |
| Possible (cubewanos) | Chaos • Salacia • Varda • Varuna • 1998 SN₁₆₅ • 2002 AW₁₉₇ • 2002 CY₂₄₈ • 2002 KX₁₄ • 2002 MS₄ • 2002 UX₂₅ • 2002 QW₉₀ • 2004 GV₄ • 2004 NT₃₃ • 2004 PF₁₁₅ • 2004 TY₃₆₄ • 2004 UX₁₀ • 2005 RN₄₃ • 2005 UQ₅₁₃ • 2010 FX₈₆ • 229762 Gǃkúnǁʼhòmdímà | |
| Possible (other) | 1999 CD₁₅₈ • 1999 DE₉ • 2000 YW₁₃₄ • 2002 XW₉₃ • 2010 JO₁₇₉ • 2010 VK₂₀₁ • 2011 FW₆₂ • 2011 GM₂₇ • 2013 FZ₂₇ • 2014 UM₃₃ • 2015 AM₂₈₁ • 2015 RR₂₄₅ | |
| Large Asteroids over 200 km in diameter | |
|---|---|
| 900+ km | Ceres |
| 500-600 km | Vesta • Pallas |
| 300-500 km | Hygiea • Interamnia • Europa |
| 200-300 km | Davida • Euphrosyne • (S/2019 (31) 1) • Patientia • Sylvia • (Remus • Romulus) • Juno • Cybele • Eumonia • Thisbe • Psyche • Hektor • (Skamandrios) • Bamberga • Doris • Ursula • Camilla • (S/2001 (107) 1 • S/2016 (107) 1) • Aurora • Daphne • (Peneius) • Egeria • Eugenia • (Petit-Prince • S/2004 (45) 1) • Fortuna • Iris |