Can I see an asteroid through a telescope?
Yes. Some bright asteroids, such as Vesta and Ceres, can be seen with binoculars or a small telescope. They look like tiny stars that move slowly from night to night.
Asteroids are very small and far away, so they look like tiny points of light, just like stars. But you can see some of them with binoculars or a small telescope.
The brightest ones. Vesta is the brightest asteroid. At its best, it can just be seen with the naked eye from a very dark place, and it is easy to spot with binoculars. Ceres, Pallas and a few others can also be seen with binoculars or a small telescope when they are well placed.
How to find them. Because asteroids look like stars, you need a star map or an astronomy app that shows where they are on a particular night. Find the right patch of sky and look for the 'star' marked as the asteroid.
How to know it's an asteroid. The trick is to look again a night or two later. Stars stay in the same pattern, but an asteroid moves slightly against them, because it is travelling around the Sun. Some astronomers sketch the stars on each night to see which dot has moved.
Close visitors. Occasionally, a small asteroid passes very close to Earth and can be seen moving quickly through a telescope over just minutes.
Amateur astronomers have discovered many asteroids. Who knows what you might find?