What type of asteroid is Vesta?
The giant asteroid is almost spherical, and so is nearly classified a dwarf planet. Unlike most known asteroids, Vesta has separated into crust, mantle and core (a characteristic known as being differentiated), much like Earth.
Is Vesta differentiated?
The Dawn mission confirms predictions that the asteroid 4 Vesta is differentiated with an iron-rich core, a silicate mantle and a basaltic crust, and confirms Vesta as the parent body of the HED meteorites.
Does Vesta have a moon?
And 175-mile-wide Sylvia has two moons. Measuring 330 miles across, Vesta is much larger than these other examples, so a “Vesta moon” is entirely possible.
What is Vesta hit Earth?
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….4 Vesta.
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Flattening | 0.2204 |
| Surface area | (8.66±0.2)×105 km2 |
| Volume | (7.46±0.3)×107 km3 |
| Mass | (2.59076±0.00001)×1020 kg |
How big is the asteroid Vesta in kilometers?
Lilith Astronomical Description The asteroid, Vesta, was discovered by German astronomer, Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers, on March 29, 1807. She resides in the main asteroid belt, has a diameter of 503 kilometers, and an orbital period around the Sun of 3.63 years.
How big is the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt?
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).
Why was Vesta found in the constellation Virgo?
Olbers commenced his search in 1802, and on 29 March 1807 he discovered Vesta in the constellation Virgo—a coincidence, because Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta are not fragments of a larger body. Because the asteroid Juno had been discovered in 1804, this made Vesta the fourth object to be identified in the region that is now known as the asteroid belt.
Which is more massive Ceres or 4 Vesta?
4 Vesta is the second most massive body in the main asteroid belt, accounting for almost nine percent of the total mass of all asteroids. Only dwarf planet Ceres is more massive in that region of rocky debris between Mars and Jupiter.