"Vesta family The Vesta family (adj. ""Vestian""; ) is a family of asteroids. The cratering family is located in the inner asteroid belt in the vicinity of its namesake and principal body, 4 Vesta. It is one of the largest asteroid families with more than 15,000 known members and consists of mostly bright V-type asteroids, so-called ""vestoids"". The Vestian asteroids consist of 4 Vesta, the second-most-massive of all asteroids (mean diameter of 530 km), and many small asteroids below 10 km diameter. The brightest of these, 1929 Kollaa and 2045 Peking, have an absolute magnitude of 12.2, which would give"
"the largest C-type asteroids require a small telescope. The potentially brightest C-type asteroid is 324 Bamberga, but that object's very high eccentricity means it rarely reaches its maximum magnitude. Their spectra contain moderately strong ultraviolet absorption at wavelengths below about 0.4 μm to 0.5 μm, while at longer wavelengths they are largely featureless but slightly reddish. The so-called ""water"" absorption feature of around 3 μm, which can be an indication of water content in minerals, is also present. The largest unequivocally C-type asteroid is 10 Hygiea, although the SMASS classification places the largest asteroid, 1 Ceres, here as well, because"
"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"
"bright stars. These include Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris), the brightest star in the night sky, as well as three other stars above magnitude 2.0. Furthermore, two other stars are thought to have previously outshone all others in the night sky—Adhara (Epsilon Canis Majoris) shone at -3.99 around 4.7 million years ago, and Mirzam (Beta Canis Majoris) peaked at −3.65 around 4.42 million years ago. Another, NR Canis Majoris, will be brightest at magnitude −0.88 in about 2.87 million years' time. The German cartographer Johann Bayer used the Greek letters Alpha through Omicron to label the most prominent stars in the"
"there are 71 stars brighter than or equal to apparent magnitude 6.5. Just shading Alpha Arae, Beta Arae is the brightest star in the constellation. It is an orange-hued star of spectral type K3Ib-IIa that has been classified as a supergiant or bright giant, that is around 650 light-years from Earth. It is around 8.21 times as massive and 5,636 times as luminous as the Sun. At apparent magnitude 2.85, this difference in brightness between the two is undetectable by the unaided eye. Close to Beta Arae is Gamma Arae, a blue-hued supergiant of spectral type B1Ib. Of apparent magnitude"
"opposed to the 830 then listed by CNEOS. In 2017, using an improved statistical method, two studies reduced the estimated number of NEAs brighter than absolute magnitude 17.75 (approximately over one kilometer in diameter) to . The estimated number of asteroids brighter than absolute magnitude of 22.0 (approximately over 140 m across) rose to , double the WISE estimate, of which about a third are known as of 2018. The number of asteroids brighter than , which corresponds to about in diameter, is estimated at about —of which about 1.3 percent had been discovered by February 2016; the number of"
"Sirius Sirius (, a latinisation of Greek , ""Seirios"", .""glowing"" or ""scorching"") is a binary star and the brightest point of light in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The system has the Bayer designation α (Alpha) Canis Majoris. The binary system consists of a main-sequence star of spectral type A0 or A1, termed Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DA2, designated Sirius B. The distance between the two varies between 8.2 and 31.5 astronomical units as they orbit"
"make Vesta the brightest asteroid, and it is occasionally visible to the naked eye from dark skies (without light pollution). In May and June 2007, Vesta reached a peak magnitude of +5.4, the brightest since 1989. At that time, opposition and perihelion were only a few weeks apart. It was brighter still at its 22 June 2018 opposition, reaching a magnitude of +5.3. Less favorable oppositions during late autumn 2008 in the Northern Hemisphere still had Vesta at a magnitude of from +6.5 to +7.3. Even when in conjunction with the Sun, Vesta will have a magnitude around +8.5; thus"
"an apparent magnitude of +6.7. This is generally regarded as too dim to be visible to the naked eye, but under ideal viewing conditions, keen eyes with 20/20 vision may be able to see it. The only other asteroids that can reach a similarly bright magnitude are 4 Vesta and, when in rare oppositions near their perihelions, 2 Pallas and 7 Iris. When in conjunction, Ceres has a magnitude of around +9.3, which corresponds to the faintest objects visible with 10×50 binoculars; thus it can be seen with such binoculars in a naturally dark and clear night sky around new"
"disk. At least four of the fifteen stars visible to the unaided eye are orange giants of spectral class K. The second brightest star in the constellation—at apparent magnitude 4.1—is Zeta Telescopii, an orange subgiant of spectral type K1III-IV. Around 1.53 times as massive as the Sun, it shines with 512 times its luminosity. Located 127 light years away from Earth, it has been described as yellow or reddish in appearance. Epsilon Telescopii is a binary star system: the brighter component, Epsilon Telescopii A, is an orange giant of spectral type K0III with an apparent magnitude of +4.52, while the"
"""seventeenth-brightest"" main-belt asteroid, and fainter than, for example, 192 Nausikaa or even 324 Bamberga (at rare near-perihelion oppositions). After the discovery of Astraea, thousands of other asteroids would follow. Indeed, the discovery of Astraea proved to be the starting point for the eventual demotion of the four original asteroids (which were regarded as planets at the time) to their current status, as it became apparent that these four were only the largest of a whole new type of celestial body. An occultation on 6 June 2008 produced an effective diameter (silhouette) of . Astraea has been studied by radar. Arecibo"
"Antares Antares (), also designated Alpha Scorpii (α Scorpii, abbreviated Alpha Sco, α Sco), is on average the fifteenth-brightest star in the night sky, and the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. Distinctly reddish when viewed with the naked eye, Antares is a slow irregular variable star that ranges in brightness from apparent magnitude +0.6 to +1.6. Often referred to as ""the heart of the scorpion"", Antares is flanked by Sigma and Tau Scorpii in the center of the constellation. Classified as a red supergiant of spectral type M1.5Iab-Ib, Antares is the brightest, most massive, and most evolved stellar"
"from extreme polar locations. Mars is at its brightest when it is in opposition, which occurs approximately every twenty-five months. Jupiter and Saturn are the largest of the five planets, but are farther from the Sun, and therefore receive less sunlight. Nonetheless, Jupiter is often the next brightest object in the sky after Venus. Saturn's luminosity is often enhanced by its rings, which reflect light to varying degrees, depending on their inclination to the ecliptic; however, the rings themselves are not visible to the naked eye from the Earth. Uranus and sometimes the asteroid Vesta are in principle visible to"
"of names approved by the WGSN; which included ""Arcturus"" for this star. It is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names. With an apparent visual magnitude of −0.05, Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere and the fourth-brightest star in the night sky, after Sirius (−1.46 apparent magnitude), Canopus (−0.72) and Alpha Centauri AB (−0.27). However, Alpha Centauri AB is a binary star, whose unresolved components to the naked eye are both fainter than Arcturus. This makes Arcturus the third-brightest individual star, just ahead of Alpha Centauri A, whose apparent magnitude is −0.01. The"
"one of the largest and brightest asteroids in the solar system, 4 Vesta. The meteorite of is essentially a basaltic rock, consisting mainly of two minerals, feldspar and silicates, known as pyroxenes, in addition to quartz and apatite, in smaller proportions. Serra Pelada (meteorite) Serra Pelada meteorite is a meteorite found in Curionópolis, in the state of the Pará, Brazil. Its fall was observed on June 29, 2017, by people in Eldorado dos Carajás, Marabá and Parauapebas. Many students and a lookout, Manuel da Silva, of the ""Escola Rita Lima de Souza"", heard a series of four to 6 detonations"
"asteroids brighter than (larger than ) is estimated at about million—of which about 0.003 percent had been discovered by February 2016. Near-Earth asteroids are divided into groups based on their semi-major axis (a), perihelion distance (q), and aphelion distance (Q): Atiras and Amors do not cross the Earth's orbit and are not immediate impact threats, but their orbits may change to become Earth-crossing orbits in the future. , 17 Atiras, 1,342 Atens, 9,964 Apollos and 6,813 Amors have been discovered and cataloged. NEAs on a co-orbital configuration have the same orbital period as the Earth. All co-orbital asteroids have special"
"Alpha Fornacis Alpha Fornacis (α Fornacis, abbreviated Alpha For, α For), also designated 12 Eridani, is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Fornax. It is the brightest star in the constellation and the only one brighter than magnitude 4.0. Based on parallax measurements obtained during the Hipparcos mission, it is approximately 46 light-years (14 parsecs) distant from the Sun. Its two components are designated Alpha Fornacis A (also named Dalim) and B. ""α Fornacis"" (Latinised to ""Alpha Fornacis"") is the system's Bayer designation, ""12 Eridani"" its Flamsteed designation. The designations of the two components as ""Alpha Fornacis"
"44 Nysa Nysa (; minor planet designation: 44 Nysa) is a large and very bright main-belt asteroid, and the brightest member of the Nysian asteroid family. It is classified as a rare class E asteroid and is probably the largest of this type (though 55 Pandora is only slightly smaller). It was discovered by Hermann Goldschmidt on May 27, 1857, and named after the mythical land of Nysa in Greek mythology. In 2002 Kaasalainen ""et al."" used 63 lightcurves from the Uppsala Asteroid Photometric Catalog (UAPC) to construct a shape model of 44 Nysa. The shape model is conical, which"
"Achernar Achernar is the name of the primary (or 'A') component of the binary system designated Alpha Eridani (α Eridani, abbreviated Alpha Eri, α Eri), which is the brightest 'star' or point of light in, and lying at the southern tip of, the constellation of Eridanus, and the tenth-brightest in the night sky. The two components are designated Alpha Eridani A (the primary) and B (the secondary, also known informally as Achernar B). As determined by the Hipparcos astrometry satellite, it is approximately from the Sun. Of the ten apparent brightest stars in the night-time sky, Alpha Eridani is the"
"reddish P-type asteroid. The P-type asteroids are some of the darkest objects in the Solar System. Since 1983, several rotational lightcurves of ""Rita"" have been obtained from photometric observations. Lightcurve analysis gave a wide range of divergent rotation periods between 9 and 20.5 hours. The ""Light Curve Data Base"" adopts a period of 13.090 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.06 magnitude. Bodies with such a low brightness variation are typically of a spherical rather than elongated shape. The lightcurve was obtained in January 2017, by American astronomer Brian Warner at the Center for Solar System Studies in California ()."
"of 26 from Andromeda, 9 from Lacerta, 6 from Cepheus, 5 from Pegasus, and 3 from Cassiopeia. The three brightest stars—all of magnitude 4—that lay within its borders are Omicron, Lambda, and Kappa Andromedae. With an apparent magnitude of 3.62, Omicron Andromedae is a multiple star system, the brightest star of which is a blue-white subgiant of spectral type B6 IIIpe and its visible companion a white star of spectral type A2. Each appears to have a close companion, making it a quadruple system. It is approximately 690 light-years from Earth. Lambda Andromedae is a yellow subgiant star of spectral"
"relatively bright stars for which it is named. The four are often identified as A, B, C, and D in order of increasing right ascension. The brightest of the four stars is C, or Theta Orionis C, with an apparent magnitude of 5.13. Both A and B have been identified as eclipsing binaries. Infrared images of the Trapezium are better able to penetrate the surrounding clouds of dust, and have located many more stellar components. About half the stars within the cluster have been found to contain evaporating circumstellar disks, a likely precursor to planetary formation. In addition, brown dwarfs"
"Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, also designated Alpha Orionis (α Orionis, abbreviated Alpha Ori, α Ori), is on average the ninth-brightest star in the night sky and second-brightest in the constellation of Orion. It is distinctly reddish, and is a semiregular variable star whose apparent magnitude varies between 0.0 and 1.3, the widest range of any first-magnitude star. Betelgeuse is one of three stars that make up the asterism of the Winter Triangle, and it marks the center of the Winter Hexagon. If the human eye could view all wavelengths of radiation, Betelgeuse would be the brightest star in the night sky. Classified"
"Hamal Hamal, alternatively designated Alpha Arietis (α Arietis, abbreviated Alpha Ari, α Ari), is the brightest star in the northern zodiacal constellation of Aries. With an apparent visual magnitude of 2.0, it is among the brightest stars in the night sky. Based upon parallax measurements made with the Hipparcos astrometry satellite, Hamal is about from Earth. It is a giant star that may host an orbiting planet with a mass greater than Jupiter. ""Alpha Arietis"" is the star's Bayer designation. It also bears the Flamsteed designation of 13 Arietis. The traditional name ""Hamal"" (also written ""Hemal"", ""Hamul"", ""Ras Hammel"") derives"
"Arcturus Arcturus, also designated Alpha Boötis (α Boötis, abbreviated Alpha Boo, α Boo), is the brightest star in the constellation of Boötes, the fourth-brightest in the night sky, and the brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere. Together with Spica and Denebola (or Regulus, depending on the source), Arcturus is part of the Spring Triangle asterism and, by extension, also of the Great Diamond along with the star Cor Caroli. Relatively close at 36.7 light-years from the Sun, Arcturus is a red giant of spectral type K0III—an ageing star around 7.1 billion years old that has used up its core hydrogen"
"Castor (star) Castor, also designated Alpha Geminorum (α Geminorum, abbreviated Alpha Gem, α Gem) is the second-brightest point of light in the constellation of Gemini and one of the brightest in the night sky. It appears singular to the naked eye, but it is actually a sextuple star system in three binary pairs made up of the stars Castor Aa, Castor Ab, Castor Ba, Castor Bb, Castor Ca, and Castor Cb. Although it has the Bayer designation ""alpha"", it is fainter than Beta Geminorum, Pollux. Castor was recorded as a double star in 1718 by James Pound. It may have"
"YY Geminorum. Castor (star) Castor, also designated Alpha Geminorum (α Geminorum, abbreviated Alpha Gem, α Gem) is the second-brightest point of light in the constellation of Gemini and one of the brightest in the night sky. It appears singular to the naked eye, but it is actually a sextuple star system in three binary pairs made up of the stars Castor Aa, Castor Ab, Castor Ba, Castor Bb, Castor Ca, and Castor Cb. Although it has the Bayer designation ""alpha"", it is fainter than Beta Geminorum, Pollux. Castor was recorded as a double star in 1718 by James Pound. It"
"dimension), with the next largest members by diameter being 3 Juno, 29 Amphitrite, 532 Herculina and 7 Iris. These largest S-types are visible in 10x50 binoculars at most oppositions; the brightest, 7 Iris, can occasionally become brighter than +7.0, which is a higher magnitude than any asteroid except the unusually reflective 4 Vesta. Their spectrum has a moderately steep slope at wavelengths shorter than 0.7 micrometres (µm), and has moderate to weak absorption features around 1 µm and 2 µm. The 1 µm absorption is indicative of the presence of silicates (stony minerals). Often there is also a broad but"
"(not shown on the main map as it is located below the map's southeastern corner, north is up). Instead, the brightest star is Epsilon Sagittarii (ε Sgr) (""Kaus Australis,"" or ""southern part of the bow""), at magnitude 1.85. Sigma Sagittarii (σ Sgr) (""Nunki"") is the constellation's second-brightest star at magnitude 2.08. Nunki is a B2V star approximately 260 light years away. ""Nunki"" is a Babylonian name of uncertain origin, but thought to represent the sacred Babylonian city of Eridu on the Euphrates, which would make Nunki the oldest star name currently in use. Zeta Sagittarii (ζ Sgr) (""Ascella""), with apparent"
"of Jupiter. The Amalthea gossamer ring is actually the brightest near its top and bottom edges and becomes gradually brighter towards Jupiter; one of the edges is often brighter than another. The outer boundary of the ring is relatively steep; the ring's brightness drops abruptly just inward of the orbit of Amalthea, although it may have a small extension beyond the orbit of the satellite ending near 4:3 resonance with Thebe. In forward-scattered light the ring appears to be about 30 times fainter than the main ring. In back-scattered light it has been detected only by the Keck telescope and"
"they may have arisen from the same collisional event. All members have a relatively high orbital inclination. 31 Euphrosyne Euphrosyne (minor planet designation: 31 Euphrosyne) is the 12th-largest and the 5th-most-massive asteroid in the asteroid belt, discovered by James Ferguson on September 1, 1854. It was the first asteroid found from North America. It is named after Euphrosyne, one of the Charites in Greek mythology. It is a fairly dark body near the belt's outer edge. Consequently, Euphrosyne is never visible with binoculars, having a maximum magnitude at the best possible opposition of around +10.2, as in November 2011, which"
"the most luminous objects in the known universe. The brightest quasar in the sky is 3C 273 in the constellation of Virgo. It has an average apparent magnitude of 12.8 (bright enough to be seen through a medium-size amateur telescope), but it has an absolute magnitude of −26.7. From a distance of about 33 light-years, this object would shine in the sky about as brightly as our sun. This quasar's luminosity is, therefore, about 4 trillion (4 × 10) times that of the Sun, or about 100 times that of the total light of giant galaxies like the Milky Way."
"star and how bright the star is. So, a planet with a low albedo that is close to its star can appear brighter than a planet with high albedo that is far from the star. The darkest known planet in terms of geometric albedo is TrES-2b, a hot Jupiter that reflects less than 1% of the light from its star, making it less reflective than coal or black acrylic paint. Hot Jupiters are expected to be quite dark due to sodium and potassium in their atmospheres but it is not known why TrES-2b is so dark—it could be due to"