These days we have the opportunity to contemplate a phenomenon that only occurs every 17 years: the alignment of the asteroids Ceres and Vesta, two of the brightest objects in the asteroid belt .
This astronomical event will have its climax in the early morning of July 5 (peninsular time) when both are in the constellation of Virgo, separated by a few degrees of angular distance; Specifically, the real distance between the two will be 85 million kilometers , according to the Slooh science outreach foundation, which will also collect and broadcast live on its website.
This asteroid alignment, which can be observed using binoculars or binoculars, is possible because the orbit of Vesta (with an orbital period of 3.63 Earth years), is faster than that of Ceres, and every 17 years reaches and it surpasses Ceres in its slowest orbit of 4.60 years.
As if this phenomenon were not enough, that same morning, the small and distant dwarf planet Pluto will reach the closest point to Earth in its orbit, a fact that will not be repeated for a little over 200 years .
