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Vesta spin pole
42.23°
North spin pole of (4) Vesta. IAU WGCCRE declination 42.235° ± 0.01°. Latitude of spin. Not a cipher.
Vesta’s north pole sits a little past forty-two degrees. Dawn measured it. The IAU kept it. Three writings of one pin: 42.23, 42.235, 42.2319. Not 42.00. Hinks is the other ridge.
Four named
Hearth. Soul. Love. Longing.
Vesta is the hearth. Psyche is the soul. Eros is love. Himeros is longing. Four names from one old story, hung on four different rocks and one crater. The 42s are not the same kind. A spin pole is not a density. A cipher is not a catalogue number. The looking holds them without pretending they are one law.
42.23°Vestahere
Hearth
The sacred fire. Spin pole. Moment 0.4208. Another world.
- 4.2016 Psyche
Soul
Metal world NASA is flying toward. Not the crater on Eros.
- 433433 Eros
Love
The love asteroid. Catalogue seat, not a 42. The 42s are rooms.
- 42Himeros
Longing
Attendant of Eros. English letters. A bowl on the love rock.
What it supports
IAU WGCCRE recommended system for (4) Vesta: δ0 = 42.235° ± 0.01°. Russell et al. 2012, Science 336: 42.23° ± 0.01°. Konopliv, Park et al. 2014, Icarus 240, pole epoch declination 42.2319°. A measured inertial pole, not a named-face sum.
What it does not
Not Park et al. 2025. That paper prints the moment of inertia 0.4208, another room. Not 42.00°. Not Hinks Dorsum. Not a cipher. The hundredths can move.
Calculation
IAU δ0 = 42.235° ± 0.01°. Russell 42.23° ± 0.01°. Konopliv 2014 epoch 42.2319°.
Inertial spin-pole declination in the IAU frame. Not a gazetteer crater name.
ExactnessCoordinate
Form42°
Unit°
Strengthhard
When2012
Hung15 September 2026