Asteroid 4 Vesta to Become Visible with Telescope Starting 21JUN2011

Asteroid Vesta 4 to Become Visible with Telescope Starting 21JUN2011 6.5 Mag

Credit: Astronomy.com

More information:

Astronomical Events Calendarhttp://astronomicaleventscalendar.blogspot.com/

Steve's Asteroid Occultation
http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/2011_06/0621_4_23822.htm (with chart transit map)

Wikipedia entry on 4 Vesta:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Vesta
------------------------------------------

NASA SPACECRAFT CAPTURES VIDEO OF ASTEROID APPROACH

WASHINGTON -- Scientists working with NASA's Dawn spacecraft have 
created a new video showing the giant asteroid Vesta as the 
spacecraft approaches this unexplored world in the main asteroid 
belt. 

The video loops 20 images obtained for navigation purposes on June 1. 
The images show a dark feature near Vesta's equator moving from left 
to right across the field of view as Vesta rotates. Images also show 
Vesta's jagged, irregular shape, hinting at the enormous crater known 
to exist at Vesta's south pole. 

To see the video, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/dawn 

The images were obtained by a framing camera during a 30-minute period 
and show about 30 degrees of a rotation. The pixel size in these 
images is approaching the resolution of the best Hubble Space 
Telescope images of Vesta. 

"Like strangers in a strange land, we're looking for familiar 
landmarks," said Jian-Yang Li, a Dawn participating scientist from 
the University of Maryland, College Park. "The shadowy spot is one of 
those - it appears to match a feature, known as 'Feature B,' from 
images of Vesta taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope." 

Before orbiting Vesta on July 16, Dawn will gently slow down to about 
75 mph (120 kph). NASA is expecting to release more images on a 
weekly basis, with more frequent images available once the spacecraft 
begins collecting science at Vesta. 

"Vesta is coming more and more into focus," said Andreas Nathues, 
framing camera lead investigator, based at the Max Planck Institute 
for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany. "Dawn's 
framing camera is working exactly as anticipated." 

The mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 
Pasadena, Calif., for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in 
Washington. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, 
managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. 
UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital 
Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn 
spacecraft. The framing cameras were developed and built under the 
leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in 
Katlenburg-Lindau, Germay. 

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research in 
Berlin made significant contributions in coordination with the 
Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering in 
Braunschweig. The framing camera project is funded by the Max Planck 
Society, DLR and NASA. 

The video from Dawn also will air Monday afternoon on NASA 
Television's Video File. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules 
and links to streaming video, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv