Small bodies · Asteroid
One of the largest asteroids in the main belt, orbited by Dawn in 2011–2012. Explore its views, where their colours came from, and palettes you can use.
Featured palette: Dawn framing camera, 24 July 2011 (Sampled from this image)
#787878#7A7A7A#686868#8F8F8F#4D4D4D#AFAFAF#151515
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA. · released 2011-08-01
About Vesta
One of the largest asteroids in the main belt, orbited by Dawn in 2011–2012.
| Classification | Asteroid |
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Why these colours?
Dawn framing camera, 24 July 2011
A Dawn framing-camera image; Vesta’s surface is grey, and the brightness is stretched to show detail.
From: Dawn framing camera, 24 July 2011 Enhanced visible colour
Colour clusters describe pixels in an image; they cannot identify a mineral, a gas or a physical temperature. Shares of pixels describe the sampled region of the image, not the object’s surface.
Colours from selected views
Palettes sampled from identified images and regions, or calculated from a documented model. These values describe each image or model, not one permanent colour of Vesta.
Dawn framing camera, 24 July 2011
Sampled from this image · Dawn framing camera, 24 July 2011
#787878RGB 120, 120, 120region average#7A7A7ARGB 122, 122, 12233% of the region#686868RGB 104, 104, 10430% of the region#8F8F8FRGB 143, 143, 14317% of the region#4D4D4DRGB 77, 77, 7711% of the region#AFAFAFRGB 175, 175, 1755% of the region#151515RGB 21, 21, 213% of the region
See where these colours came from
Creative palettes inspired by Vesta
A design derived from the selected representation. It is not a scientific colour measurement. Each colour keeps the sampled colour it was made from.
Inspired by Vesta
Inspired by this object
#2E2E2ERGB 46, 46, 46from #151515#4F4F4FRGB 79, 79, 79from #4D4D4D#727272RGB 114, 114, 114from #686868#979797RGB 151, 151, 151from #7A7A7A#BFBFBFRGB 191, 191, 191from #8F8F8F#E8E8E8RGB 232, 232, 232from #AFAFAF
Colours of the first view of Vesta with their lightness spread evenly, for a design palette.
Explore the views
Pick a colour from the image. Click or tap the picture to read a colour. Picked colours are yours, not catalogue samples.
No supported 3D model is available for this view. You can still inspect the source imagery and palette.
Use these colours
Every palette above opens in the palette generator. With JavaScript you can also add colours to your cosmic palette, save them, make a gradient or pattern, preview them in a design or a room (you choose which colour goes on which surface), check digital accessibility and export them. Each colour keeps the view and sample it came from.
Paint matches compare digital swatches for design inspiration. They are not physical equivalents of light from space. Edits create a new design palette. The original representation remains unchanged.
Sources
- About the Planets — NASA
- Full-Frame Image of Vesta — NASA
Image credits
- Dawn framing camera, 24 July 2011: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA. NASA media (not copyrighted; see the NASA image and media guidelines). Resized for the web from the publisher’s file (sha256 a62a194104b7acaa4ac5786704321069afea56dd13861a16e08252875476f61d).
Images were resized once for the web; colours were measured from the published files (k-means in OKLab, pcke-oklab-kmeans-1); calculated colours use the CIE 1931 2° observer. Facts last reviewed 25 October 2026. Catalogue pcke-cosmos-2026-10-25, page revision 3db3fdaac003. No ESA, ESO or NASA endorsement is implied.