114 Kassandra

Also known as (114) Kassandra, Kassandra

main-belt asteroid

Picture of the Day · NASA

Jupiter and Venus from Earth

2026-06-07

It was visible around the world. The sunset conjunction of Jupiter (left) and Venus (right) in 2012 was visible almost no matter where you lived on Earth. Anyone on our planet with a clear western horizon at sunset could see them. That year, a creative photographer traveled away from the town lights of Szubin, Poland to photograph a near closest approach of the two planets. The bright planets were then separated by only three degrees and his daughter struck a humorous pose. A faint red sunset still glowed in the background. Jupiter and Venus are together again this week after sunset, passing within a degree of each other about two days from today.

Key facts

Discovered by: Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
Discovery date: 23 July 1871
Pronunciation: / k ə ˈ s æ n d r ə /
Named after: Cassandra
Alternative designations: A871 OA
Minor planet category: Main belt

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Article

114 Kassandra is a large and dark main-belt asteroid. It belongs to the class of rare T-type asteroids. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on July 23, 1871, and is named after Cassandra, the prophetess in the tales of the Trojan War.

This object is classified as a rare T-type asteroid, with parts of the spectrum displaying properties similar to the mineral troilite and to carbonaceous chondrite. The shape of the spectrum also appears similar to fine grain from the Ornans meteorite, which landed in France in 1868. The light curve for this asteroid displays a period of 10.758 ± 0.004 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25 ± 0.01 in magnitude.