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Vesta – HST – 368° Longitude
About the Object
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.The semi-major axis of Vesta's orbit about the Sun is 2.36 astronomical units (AU) or roughly 219 million miles (353 million kilometers).
- DimensionsDimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.Vesta has a mean diameter of approximately 330 miles (530 kilometers). The object has a 354-mile (570-km) diameter at the equator and a slightly smaller diameter of 288-miles (464-km) pole-to-pole.
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.This image was created from HST data from proposal 12050: J.-Y. Li (University of Maryland, College Park), L. McFadden (NASA/GSFC), P. Thomas (Cornell University), C. Russell (University of California, Los Angeles), M. Mutchler (STScI), and M. Rayman, C. Raymond, and S. Weinstein-Weiss (JPL/Caltech). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>WFC3/UVIS
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.February 28, 2010, 12:29 UT
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.F373N (373 nm) and F469N (469 nm)
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Vesta, 4 Vesta
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Asteroid
- Release DateOctober 8, 2010
- Science ReleaseNASA Mission to Asteroid Gets Help from Hubble Space Telescope
- Credits
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
This image is a composite of separate exposures made by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Each filter was used to sample a narrow wavelength range. The composite colors result from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Yellow/gold: F469N (469 nm) Cyan: F373N (373 nm)
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Last Updated
Feb 17, 2025
Contact
Media
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
