Vesta (astronomy), asteroid orbiting the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter at a mean distance of 2.36 astronomical units (about 353 million km/about 219.4 million mi) and having a diameter of approximately 385 km (about 240 mi). Vesta is the third largest asteroid and was the fourth asteroid to be discovered. German astronomer Heinrich Olbers found it in 1807. In 1999 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spacecraft Deep Space 1 made observations that suggested that asteroid 9969 Braille, which passes close to Earth, and Vesta are composed of similar materials. Scientists used the information to theorize about the relationship between Vesta and the many meteorites that have struck Earth over time.
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