This combined image shows the movement of asteroid Vesta against the background of stars over three nights in October. Vesta was tracked for 30 to 40 minutes each evening, leaving a short trail each time. Vesta is the second largest asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and is the brightest asteroid visible from Earth. It was visited in 2011 by the Dawn spacecraft. Having reached opposition on 13 October, Vesta is currently moving retrograde as seen from Earth - from left to right in this image.
The very small and faint galaxy in the centre of this image is IC 1705.
More images: Combined image
Annotated Animation
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