Asteroid Iris Buzzes the Sombrero Galaxy

The main belt Asteroid 7 Iris passes by the Sombrero Galaxy in Virgo. The track of the main belt asteroid 7 Iris is shown at 1-hr intervals - from 8 pm until 5 am - over two successive nights: May 5-6 and May 6-7; the asteroid moves from lower left to center. (The large outer circle is 1/2 degree wide - about the width of the Full Moon.) (click image to enlarge)*

You will need a telescope to see this action, but here's a chance to watch a smaller member of our Solar System visibly moving against the more distant deep-sky background - and a pretty one, at that! Asteroid 7 Iris is a fairly typical member of the main belt of asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. On the nights of May 5-6 and 6-7, it passes within a high-power field-of-view of the striking Sombrero Galaxy in Virgo. The asteroid will resemble any one of a number of 10th-magnitude stars - but it will reveal its true nature by visibly moving hour by hour against the background stars (and, in this case, a galaxy).