Seeing Vesta at Opposition (12 October 2026)

Eastern horizon on the evening of Monday, October 12 as seen from Adelaide at 20:54 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. The asteroid Vesta is at opposition and 1s easily visible in binoculars on the 12th. unfortunately there are no bright guide stars to easily get to it. The insets shows the telescopic view of Saturn and the binocular view of Vesta at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local timeVesta last night taken on my Samsung S24 in astrophoto mode. 5x zoom, 2 minutes exposure. Vesta comes to opposition on Monday the 12th. The Guide stars theta (𝛉) Ceti and Zeta 𝜻 Ceti, are indicated along with Vesta and HIP 8230.(click to embiggen) Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing showing the movement of 4 Vesta over October. The large circle represents the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Saturn and the Guide stars theta (𝛉) Ceti and Zeta 𝜻 Ceti, are…