[meteorite-list] Vesta and Mars

[MexicoDoug at aol.com]

Hola List...

Has anyone seen brilliant  Vesta tonight in the Americas?  Get out the 
binoculars!  She's at  opposition, magnitude about 6.2, and beautiful, right now as 
high up as she can  get on the ecliptic right in the heart of Pollux, in the 
constellation  Gemini.  Find Betelgeuse (the brightest red armpit of Orion the 
Hunter) and  find the Twins on the way to the zenith.  Pollux is the brighter  
twin.  Vesta mag. 6.2 is practically colinear with Pollux, making the third  
dimmest point of a triangle with two stars in Gemini around Pollux' waist  
(Mekbuda mag. 3.8 and Wasat mag. 3.5).  The Moon has set in the Eastern  Time 
Zone and Mars will soon be below the horizon, but and Vesta is currently at  the 
best viewing for a two and a half period!  

Vesta is visible in  the darkest night skies now with the naked eye and is an 
easy binocular  object.  Tonight is opposition.  If you want a chance to see 
her, step  out in the cold and sketch out Gemini with the binocs, and fill in 
all the  interior points of light through the binoculars ... and then see 
which one is  that big hunk of reflective Eucrite out there!  Only about a half 
dozen  stars between the twins are brighter than Vesta...

Clear skies, tonight's  her night - A Vestan Night!
Saludos, Doug