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Observing Ceres in the Night Sky

by Lucy McFadden, Dawn Co-Investigator, and Elizabeth Warner, Dawn E/PO,
University of Maryland.

Introduction
With the Dawn spacecraft successfully launched in September 2007, observers around the world are preparing to take advantage of Ceres' position in the night sky to augment our understanding of the nearest dwarf planet. Professional and amateur observers with both large and small telescopes have an opportunity to contribute to their knowledge of Ceres and to enjoy its appearance in the night sky. Ceres was at opposition on November 11 and thus became an evening target through the winter and into the spring. It is the Dawn mission's second target scheduled for orbital study February through July 2015.

Small telescope observers are invited to contribute photometric measurements to build light curves throughout this apparition.

		Location of Ceres in the night sky through the winter and spring. Charts generated in SNP+6. + View Finder Charts            + Enlarge Image

Cere’s appearance in the sky
Enthusiastic observers have a chance to see Ceres this winter and into the early spring. Visible high in the evening sky, it rises earlier and earlier each night. When it was at opposition in November, it
essentially rose as the sun set (like the full moon) and was observable throughout the night. In January, Ceres once again starts to move eastwards heading back towards Taurus. At 8 pm local time, it is high in the southern sky. Unfortunately, the Earth moves a bit faster than Ceres in its orbit, so the sun is catching up faster than Ceres can move ahead of it. In February and March around 7 pm, you'll find Ceres in the southwest, desperately trudging eastwards towards Taurus and fading to nearly 9th magnitude. At the end of March, it is between the Pleiades and Hyades—two bright open clusters in Taurus. By April, Ceres can be seen just ahead of sunset.

Hovering between magnitude 7 and 9, Ceres is observable primarily in small telescopes. Experienced observers may be able to find it with binoculars.

While seeing Ceres itself is in itself quite an event, observers may want to make note of brightness variations due to light and dark spots on its surface. Simpler observations would include watching Ceres move against the background stars.

To learn more about asteroids and how to observe Ceres, check out the Amateur Observers' Program.