Asteroid Vesta 10.4 Arcminutes from Aldebaran on August 5

[Centaur]

I calculate that geocentrically the magnitude +8.3 asteroid 4 Vesta will appear to pass north of the magnitude +1.0 star Aldebaran with a minimum separation of only 10.4 arcminutes on 2012 AUG 05 at 23:22:26 UT. The pair will be 64.3° west of the Sun. Of course they will not be visible to everyone at the moment of minimum separation, but they will still appear quite close to each other in your early morning sky.

For my charts of Vesta and other bright asteroids, click: www.CurtRenz.com/asteroids

Photos and descriptions of the event would be welcome additions to this thread.

[Centaur]

I've now added a Vesta ephemeris and a magnified chart for a close up preview of the apparent passage of Vesta near Aldebaran: www.CurtRenz.com/asteroids