A small rocky body orbiting the Sun, most of them between Mars and Jupiter. In a telescope it looks like a star, but you can see it move from one night to the next. Vesta can reach magnitude 5.3 and become barely visible to the naked eye under a very dark sky.
Related terms
- Comet
A block of ice and dust a few kilometres across which, as it nears the Sun, grows a coma and tails. The curved, yellowish dust tail and the straight, bluish gas tail point away from the Sun. Their brightness is hard to predict.
- Planet
A body that orbits the Sun and shines by reflecting its light. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are visible to the naked eye; they move slowly among the stars, near the ecliptic, and twinkle less than stars. Uranus (magnitude 5.7) and Neptune (7.8) need binoculars or a telescope.
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