Discovered by German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on March 29, 1807, Vesta is the second largest object in the asteroid belt. Vesta, is about the length of the state of Arizona, with a mean diameter of about 530 kilometers, and has a surface consisting of basaltic rock, or frozen lava. The asteroid formed 4.5 billion years ago, and at this time it’s interior was very hot. Shortly after the formation, the lava oozed out of the interior and has remained mostly intact since. Vesta is found within the Inner Main Belt of the asteroid belt, which lies interior to the Kirkwood Gap. Named Vesta, after the Roman goddess of home and hearth, this asteroid also has an official name of “4 Vesta” because it was the fourth asteroid discovered. At the south pole of the asteroid is a giant crater that resulted from a massive collision that blew out one percent of the asteroid’s volume and sent over one-half million cubic rock into space. Astonishingly, scientists belive that nearly 5 percent of all mteorites that we find on Earth are a result of this enormous crash in deep space years ago.
The Moon, Vesta and Ceres
Taken by the Hubble space telescope in September, 2007