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.
© Marek Nikodem (PPSAE) · via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- K. Reinmuth
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 17 October 1930
- Pronunciation
- / æ ŋ ˈ k aɪ s iː z /
- Named after
- Anchises (Greek mythology)
- Alternative designations
- 1930 UB
~5 min read
Article
1173 Anchises /æŋˈkaɪsiːz/ is an unusually elongated Jupiter Trojan from the Trojan camp, approximately 124 kilometers (77 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 17 October 1930, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany, and was the 9th such body to be discovered. The primitive P-type asteroid belongs to the largest Jupiter trojans, has an unusually smooth surface texture, the lowest spectral slope of all members of the Trojan camp, and a rotation period of 11.6 hours. It was named after Anchises from Greek mythology.
Orbit and classification