Asteroid Vesta aspects in the horoscope. Asteroid Vesta: meaning in astrology, observations. Physical characteristics of the asteroid Vesta
The second largest and brightest object in the main asteroid belt is called Vesta. If not for a powerful collision in ancient times, Vesta would have been classified as a dwarf planet.
History of discovery
As with the discovery of all main belt asteroids, the story of the discovery of Vesta began with the search for a missing planet in orbit between Mars and Jupiter (which can be found in more detail in the main belt asteroids article). Vesta was first discovered by German astronomer Heinrich Olbers in 1807. With the permission of Olbers, the name of the new object in the Solar System was given by another German astronomer of that time - Carl Gauss. He chose the name Vesta, in honor of the ancient Roman goddess of home and hearth.
Asteroid characteristics
The generally accepted designation of asteroids assumes that the name of the object is preceded by its serial number, in the order of discovery of asteroids. Vesta was the fourth discovered object in the main belt, therefore its designation is (4) Vesta. Vesta is the most massive asteroid in the main asteroid belt, accounting for 9% of the mass of the entire Main Belt. But Vesta is inferior in size to (2) Pallas and the dwarf planet Ceres. The diameter of the asteroid is 560 km. At the same time, Vesta is the brightest object in the main asteroid belt, even brighter than Ceres, whose diameter is almost 2 times that of Vesta. The asteroid's surface is covered with basaltic rocks similar to those that erupt from volcanoes on Earth. Such rocks are more reflective than the carbonaceous minerals that cover Ceres. Therefore, Vesta is brighter than Ceres and other main belt asteroids. Despite its small size, Vesta can be observed even with the naked eye on a dark night far from artificial lighting.
Vesta's orbit lies in the inner region of the main asteroid belt. The average distance from the Sun is 2.4 astronomical units. One revolution around the Sun takes 3.6 Earth years, and one revolution around its axis takes 5 hours 20 minutes. The temperature on the asteroid's surface ranges from -190° C in winter and can rise to -3° C in summer.
Vesta's shape is close to spherical and would have been so if two powerful collisions with other asteroids had not occurred. It is believed that Vesta experienced its first impact approximately 2 billion years ago. The crater formed by this impact is called Veneneia. Its diameter is about 400 km. A little less than a billion years later, Vesta experienced another, more powerful collision. The consequence was the impact crater Resilvia, with a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the asteroid itself - 500 km. The depth of the crater is 19 km, and in the center there is a peak 23 km high from the base of the crater. The impact was so strong that grooves were formed on the equator of the asteroid due to compression of the rock. Their length is 465 km, and the average width is about 10 km; their depth can reach 5 km. (In the video below.)
So, if not for the impact craters that disfigured the appearance of the asteroid, today Vesta would be classified as a dwarf planet.
Vesta's collision with another asteroid allowed scientists to study Vesta's internal composition before the Dawn spacecraft entered orbit in 2011. The fact is that the impact threw a large amount of debris into outer space. It is estimated that Vesta has lost about 1% of its volume. These debris subsequently fell on other bodies in the solar system and on Earth in the form of meteorites. Studying the chemical composition of these meteorites allowed scientists to assume that Vesta is a protoplanet (the embryo of a planet). Its internal chemical composition is similar to that of Earth.
Young Vesta had a sufficient amount of internal heat; its depths were melted as a result of the decay of heavy radioactive elements. In addition, a process of internal differentiation took place, when heavy elements move to the center of the celestial body, and lighter ones are forced out closer to the surface. The molten core of the young asteroid and further differentiation of the interior allow us to speak specifically about the planetary structure of Vesta.
Throughout the history of the solar system, asteroids with metallic cores have been destined to be destroyed by collisions with other objects. As a result, many smaller bodies were formed. And only Vesta was lucky enough to survive to this day in almost its original form. Thus, Vesta is the only representative of the protoplanets that has survived to this day, from which such planets as Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury were subsequently formed. Vesta is an excellent object for studying the processes that took place in the protoplanets of the young Solar System.
A computer model made on the basis of images obtained from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. On video:
1. Divaliya furrows formed as a result of a collision with another cosmic body.
2. Marcia Crater, the largest crater in the “snowman” series of craters, diameter 58 km.
3. Dome of Aricia, 5 km high and 39 km in diameter.
P.S. New cosmic oddities were discovered by the tireless seeker of alien artifacts Joseph P. Skipper, Investigator. He and his numerous colleagues - virtual archaeologists - are looking for unusual objects, examining in detail photographs from other planets and other celestial bodies posted on official websites. And they find it.
This time, the attention of “archaeologists” was attracted by the asteroid Vesta - the second largest in the solar system. Its diameter is 550 kilometers. Almost a planet.
Vesta is located between Mars and Jupiter - in the asteroid belt. And according to one of the very popular hypotheses, this belt represents the remains of the collapsed planet Phaeton. And on it - this is another hypothesis - there was once life on it. Perhaps even reasonable. That is, with local residents who have reached a high level of development. It seems that Skipper and his colleagues have found confirmation of this fantasy. They spotted the remains of two technical objects on Vesta.
The American automatic probe Dawn is now located near the asteroid, which approached it on December 12, 2011. The probe transmits high-resolution images to Earth. NASA posts them on its official website (NASA Photojournal).
So, in one of the photographs we were able to see a disk partially hidden under a layer of soil. And partially destroyed. The object is very similar to a "flying saucer" that crashed. In our minds, of course, about “flying saucers”.
The Dawn spacecraft captured this image on July 17, 2011. It was located about 15,000 kilometers (9,500 miles) from Vesta. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.
Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt, second only to Ceres, which is classified as a dwarf planet. Vesta, the brightest asteroid in the sky, is sometimes visible from Earth with the naked eye. This is the first asteroid visited by a spacecraft. The Dawn mission showed us Vesta in 2011, providing new data about this rocky world.
In 1596, after studying planetary orbits, Johannes Kepler came to the conclusion that a planet must exist in the region between Mars and Jupiter. Mathematical calculations by Johann Daniel Titius and Johann Elert Bode in 1772, later known as the Titius-Bode law, seemed to support this prediction. In August 1798, a group of astronomers began searching for this missing planet. Among the latter was the German astronomer Heinrich Olbers. Olbers discovered the second asteroid known at that time - Pallas. In his letter to astronomers, he outlined the theory of the origin of these asteroids.
“Perhaps Ceres and Pallas are just a couple of fragments ... of a once larger planet that once lay between Mars and Jupiter,” he wrote.
Olbers believed that the fragments of this planet would intersect at the point of destruction and on the opposite side of the orbit. He observed these two regions and discovered Vesta on March 29, 1807, becoming the first person to discover two asteroids.
This image of the giant asteroid Vesta taken by the Dawn spacecraft shows numerous impact craters. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA. Vesta is unique among asteroids in that the light and dark areas on its surface are similar to those on the Moon. Ground-based observations have shown that the asteroid has basaltic areas, which suggests that lava flowed along its surface in the past. It has an irregular shape, approximately the same as an oblate spheroid.
As Vesta approached Earth in 1996, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged some of the object's topographical features. For example, a large crater at the south pole, the average diameter of which is about 460 kilometers, while Vesta itself is only 530 kilometers across. The crater is about 13 kilometers deep and was most likely formed by a major collision early in the asteroid's life. The material ejected from this collision resulted in a number of smaller vestoid asteroids that orbited their parent, as well as meteorites that crashed into Earth.
Unlike most asteroids, Vesta's structure is differentiated. Like planets, the asteroid has a crust of cooled lava that covers a rocky mantle and an iron-nickel core. These properties are an argument in favor of the fact that Vesta should be considered a protoplanet and not an asteroid.
In fact, if not for Jupiter, Vesta would have a good chance of becoming a planet.
“The velocities in the asteroid belt were really high, and the higher the velocities, the harder it is for planetesimals to come together,” said David O'Brien, a fellow at the institute in Tucson, Arizona.
In 1960, a fireball that streaked across the skies over Australia was later found to be part of Vesta. Composed almost entirely of pyroxene, the meteorite has the same spectral characteristics as Vesta.
In October 2010, the Hubble Space Telescope focused on Vesta again. The findings showed that the asteroid's tilt is about four degrees greater than researchers previously thought. This data helped NASA place the Dawn spacecraft in polar orbit around the asteroid.
The Dawn spacecraft, which has been studying the asteroid since 2012, discovered that there is a surprisingly large amount of hydrogen on the surface of this rocky body. He also discovered bright reflective areas that may have appeared after his birth.
“Our analysis shows that this bright material has not undergone significant changes since the formation of Vesta more than 4 billion years ago,” said Jian-Yang Li.
Vesta's south pole has a huge mountain that reaches an altitude of over 20 kilometers (65,000 feet), making it almost as tall as Olympus Mons on Mars. Olympus is the largest mountain (and volcano) in the solar system. It rises 24 kilometers (15 miles) above the surface of Mars.
In addition, astronomers believe that liquid water existed on the asteroid. Images taken by the Dawn spacecraft captured curved gullies and fan-shaped deposits in eight different craters on Vesta. All eight craters are believed to have formed in the last few hundred million years, which is relatively recent for a 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid.
“No one expected to find evidence of water on Vesta because its surface is so cold and it has no atmosphere, causing any water on its surface to evaporate quickly,” Jennifer Scully, a graduate student at Vesta, said in a statement. University of Los Angeles.
Dawn also found evidence of hydrated minerals (materials containing water molecules) on Vesta's surface, which could also hint at the presence of subsurface ice.
A new frontier in the development of human civilization is the exploration of the vast and full of mysteries of space. We are taking thousands of steps towards clues, and one of them is the study of the asteroid Vesta, which has exceptional features compared to other celestial bodies.
Asteroid Vesta
It is one of the most massive objects in the vast asteroid belt stretching between Mars and Jupiter. One revolution around the Sun takes almost 4 years, around its own axis - 5 hours, and the acceleration of gravity is almost 5 times less than on Earth. The asteroid shares its name with the Roman goddess of the family hearth, Vesta. It received its name from the notorious Carl Gauss. By the way, Phaeton, which will be discussed later, was also named after a mythical god, and the first discovered asteroids were named only after the names of goddesses (for example, Vesta, Juno, Ceres, Pallas and others).
Vesta is the only asteroid that is visible to the naked eye from Earth (under normal weather conditions). This is facilitated by its bright surface, large size and ability to come relatively close to our planet. At the same time, its shape is far from ideal - round; Vesta did not have enough gravity to “polish” its surface.
Origin hypothesis
On March 29, 1807 (almost 200 years ago), Heinrich Olbers discovered the asteroid Vesta. Its brightness and suspected origin, incomparable to other celestial bodies in the asteroid belt, make it one of the most interesting objects to study.
The generally accepted version says that Vesta is a fragment of the planet Phaeton, which can now only be imagined: the entire asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is its fragments. But is this true?
At the end of the 18th century, German scientists discovered a pattern in the distances between the planets and the Sun. All known planets fell under the identified rule, with one exception: there seemed to be a gap between Mars and Jupiter - according to calculations, there should have been the orbit of another planet there. A few years later, astronomers found it, exactly in the place where it was supposed, and named it Ceres. But the story didn’t end there either. In subsequent years, four more large objects were discovered, including the asteroid Vesta, rotating in approximately the same orbit as Ceres. Heinrich Olbers, who discovered Vesta, became the founder of the hypothesis: next to Jupiter there used to be another planet, Phaethon, which fell into pieces.
Phaeton - a myth?
This idea was picked up by the world community and developed in various directions. In the last century, scientists calculated that Phaeton could have been almost 7,000 kilometers in diameter, making it even larger than Mars. The catastrophe is separated from the present by 16 million years.
On the other hand, all of the above are just hypotheses. The date is not exact, the causes of the cataclysm are controversial. Some say that volcanoes were to blame, literally destroying the planet from the inside. Some argue that Phaeton was torn apart by centrifugal force; others are sure that if such a planet existed, it simply fell into pieces due to a collision with its own satellite. We’ll talk about the theory of alien intervention, which has no less followers, later.
But there are, as always happens with hypotheses, opponents of the very existence of Phaethon: the opposing theory says that the asteroid belt near Mars is not fragments, but pieces of a planet that failed to form (as the big bang theory says, all planets were once rarefied matter until, due to collapse, they formed into real objects).
In astrology
Along with other celestial bodies in astrology, the asteroid Vesta also has its own meaning. Astrologers define it as serving higher ideals, the desire not to create something new, but to renew and revive the old. In a negative sense - to block the road to renewal.
Vesta, Juno, Lada, Eros, Phaedra - all these are asteroids of the love series. Their main meaning is related to and reflects on the love life of a person. What does asteroid Vesta mean in the list of celestial bodies influencing you in the love series? That you will have to maintain chastity in the name of a higher goal, sacrifice your intimate life, and not always voluntarily.
At the same time, it is necessary to understand that individual asteroids do not have global significance in astrology; they can only be “shades”, only additional, specific sources of information.
Modern research
The Dawn space station was launched in 2007, and one of its probes explored the asteroid Vesta in 2011 and 2012, but the data has yet to be fully exploited. In 2016, a huge number of ice formations were discovered inside Ceres, which gave reason to look for them on Vesta. But the amount of H 2 on its surface is 100 times less, which did not give confidence in the presence of water on the asteroid.
In new research using the same bistatic radar data, scientists have again taken up the question of the existence of ice on Vesta. Having received information about its surface in centimeter resolution, they noted the inconsistency of the properties and shape of the asteroid over the entire area and a little later established: yes, there is ice on Vesta. And it is precisely this that is the reason for such heterogeneity in the structure.
These future studies will help to understand how water is transported in space and how to prevent water shortages in arid regions on Earth.
Observations from Earth
As already mentioned, Vesta can be observed from Earth with the naked eye. This is best done during a confrontation.
During opposition, the observed object is exactly between the Earth and the Sun. The subject is fully illuminated and as close as possible. For example, on January 18, 2017, the asteroid Vesta approached the Earth by 229 million kilometers (which is a microscopic distance for space). Such an approach was possible precisely because of the confrontation. A photo of the Vesta asteroid is posted in the article.
Observations of the asteroid Vesta could be carried out in Moscow from 5 pm to 7 am. It was observed in the constellation Cancer with the naked eye.
Vesta was already observed in Australia in 1960. Moreover, fragments of an asteroid fell to Earth. The meteorites were discovered 10 years later, and based on their unusual structure and composition (pyroxene, which is usually found in lava), they were determined to belong to Vesta.
Asteroid Vesta - home of aliens?
More precisely, Phaeton. If such a planet really existed, then many are sure that there was life on it, moreover, intelligent life.
In one of the images sent by Dawn, you can see what appears to be a destroyed disk crashing into the surface of Vesta. All people's ideas about the means of transportation of aliens one way or another converge to "flying saucers." The object stuck into the asteroid is very similar to such a “plate”.
Of course, this theory quickly found a response among the people. One of the versions assumes the presence of a highly developed civilization that visited the Earth, the other - that the Phaetonians, in general, moved to it and became earthlings.
The phaeton was also used several times in literature: writers convince that the planet was destroyed directly by its inhabitants, starting a thermonuclear war.
>> Vesta
Vesta– a large asteroid of the belt between Mars and Jupiter: dimensions, mass, detection, the role of Kepler, Bode and Olbers, surface, composition, study with photos.
Vesta ranks second in terms of massiveness in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, behind Ceres (belongs to the class of dwarf planets). This is the brightest asteroid, so sometimes it can be found without the use of magnifying instruments. In 2011, Vesta was found by the Dawn device.
Sky Police and Asteroid Vesta
In 1596, Johannes Kepler calculated the elliptical shape of planetary orbits and found that there must be another planet between Mars and Jupiter. In 1772, mathematical calculations from Johann Bode were published that supported these conclusions. Interestingly, in 1789, several scientists created the “Heavenly Police” group, searching for the missing planet. Among them was Heinrich Olbers, who managed to discover the asteroid Pallas. In describing his theory, he indicated that Ceres and Pallas are capable of acting as fragments from a previously large planet. Check out the photo of the Vesta asteroid below.
Olbers believed that these fragments should intersect at the point of explosion and on the orbital path. He observed these points and on March 29, 1807 he noticed West. He became the first person to find two asteroids. The scientist sent his notes to Karl Gaus, who determined the orbit of Pallas in 10 hours.
Physical characteristics of the asteroid Vesta
Vesta is considered a unique asteroid due to its dark and bright spots, reminiscent of the lunar surface. There are basaltic areas, which means lava flowed through them previously. The object has an irregular shape (flattened). Interestingly, the asteroid Vesta has a nearly circular orbit. Below are the size and rotation characteristics.
- Diameter: 530 km.
- Massiveness: 2.67 × 10 20 kg.
- Temperature range: -188°C to -18°C.
- Albedo: 0.4322.
- Rotation period: 5.342 hours.
- Orbital period: 3.63 years
- Aphelion: 2.57 AU
- Perihelion: 2.15 AU
- Closest approach to Earth: 1.14 AU
Surface, composition and formation of the asteroid Vesta
In 1996, Vesta approached the Earth, and the Hubble Space Telescope was able to capture its topographic surface layer along with the formations in the photo. A large crater appeared at the south pole with a diameter of 460 km (Vesta extends only 530 km). The crater goes 13 km deep and most likely appeared during an ancient impact. The shock ripped out material that was thrown into orbit and orbiting the asteroid.
Unlike other asteroids, the interior of asteroid Vesta is differentiated. That is, there is a crust of cooled lava, a rocky mantle and an iron-nickel core. This suggests that this is a protoplanet.
The core developed in the first 10 million years after the formation of the system. The basaltic crust also developed rapidly. Volcanic eruptions flowed from the mantle for 8-60 hours. Lava flows could spread for kilometers with a thickness of 5-20 m.
In 1960, a piece of Vesta flew over Australia. The fragment consisted entirely of pyroxene (found in lava flows) and carried the spectral signals of Vesta. In 2012, the Dawn spacecraft flew to the asteroid. A huge amount of hydrogen was detected on the surface. I also found bright areas with high reflectance. It is believed to have been created more than 4 billion years ago.
Visitors from asteroid Vesta
Vesta has a unique composition, making its meteorites easy to identify. These are HED objects, represented by eucrites (solidified lava), diogenites (from below the surface) and howardites (a mixture of both). A map of the Vesta asteroid shows more detail.
If Vesta's orbit is beyond Mars, how did the fragments reach Earth? Meteorites pass by Jupiter during three orbits around the Sun and feel the giant's pull.
Exploring the asteroid Vesta
In 2007, NASA launched the Dawn mission to visit Vesta and Ceres. This is a unique device, since it was the first time it traveled in two asteroid orbits at once. He arrived at Vesta in 2011, and at Ceres in 2015.
Dawn's goal is to study the characteristics of the early system through the analysis of two different asteroids. Ceres is humid, has seasonal polar caps, and is capable of a thin atmospheric layer. Vesta is a dry and rocky object.
In size, they are more like protoplanets, but Jupiter's gravity stopped their formation. In October 2010, the Hubble Telescope photographed Vesta again. The new data showed that the axle tilt is 4 degrees greater than earlier estimates.
Asteroid Vesta is a celestial wanderer that has survived more than one large-scale disaster, leaving us with many interesting space artifacts.
Vesta became number 4 in order of discovery in the main asteroid belt. It was noticed by the German astronomer Heinrich Olbers in 1807. It owes its name to the greatest mathematician Carl Gauss; it was he who proposed naming the found asteroid after the patroness of family and hearth from Ancient Rome.
Location and characteristics
Vesta is located in a wide asteroid belt located between Jupiter and Mars. It is filled with cosmic bodies of various sizes and a significant number of small planets.
Asteroid Vesta is the second largest among its neighbors (530 km), it is inferior to Pallas at only 2 km in diameter. But in terms of mass, it overtook everyone - 2.59x10 in 20 kg - this figure became the largest among similar objects, after Ceres was classified as a dwarf planet. Temperatures on the asteroid vary seasonally: in winter this figure is about -190 degrees, and in summer - 3 degrees below 0. The eastern region is highly reflective, and in the western part there are darker areas of basalt rocks.
Surface and subsurface
Topographic map of the asteroid Vesta, showing the relief of the northern and southern hemispheres. Compiled from photographs acquired between July 17, 2011 and August 26, 2012 by NASA's DAWN spacecraft.
At the beginning of its formation, Vesta had an iron core and a rocky mantle, which were partially melted by internal heat. Over time, cooling occurred and a large amount of minerals appeared. This fact is confirmed by meteorites found on Earth that left the asteroid after powerful impacts. The surface of Vesta was subjected to several large-scale attacks, leaving behind craters hundreds of kilometers long. Their consequences are being studied using the Hubble telescope and the Dawn spacecraft.
The largest crater is located in the southern part, its size is 460 km, and the rock formation along the perimeter rises 18 km. This rock was pushed out by an impact of colossal force, its height is twice that of Everest.
The huge crater, like all the others on the asteroid, is named after the famous Roman matron, it bears the name Rhea Silvia. Many other, smaller craters were also discovered here. Another structure on the surface indicates catastrophic impacts - a system of trenches at the equator. The longest is called Divaliya, it has a length of 465 km and a depth of up to 5 km.
3D map of Vesta
Remnants of the disaster
The shape of the asteroid is close to spherical, since its uniformity was disrupted by a powerful collision with another celestial body more than 2 billion years ago. The fragments of Vesta left its surface and formed a family of class V asteroids. Their sizes are significantly smaller than the size of the main object and do not exceed 10 km in diameter. Scientists have calculated the number of these cosmic bodies; in 2005 it was 6051. Some meteorites circle in the space of the Universe, and those that fell on Earth brought important information about their ancestor Vesta.
Digital model of the Vesta asteroid
This is interesting
High reflective data made the asteroid one of the brightest celestial bodies. Vesta is visible to us without optical zoom. The asteroid is the same age as the Solar System, and in geological composition it is close to the terrestrial planets. Studies by the Dawn space probe, which took place in 2011-2012, provided many images of the surface and made it possible to create a detailed map of it. Only after the device approached the asteroid were scientists able to calculate its exact mass.