139 Juewa
Also known as (139) Juewa, Juewa
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.
© Marek Nikodem (PPSAE) · via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- James Craig Watson
- Discovery date
- 10 October 1874
- Pronunciation
- English: / dʒ u ˈ eɪ w ɑː / joo- AY -wah , Mandarin: [ɻwe ̂ ɪxwa ̌ ]
- Alternative designations
- A874 TA
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 121.07 yr (44222 d)
~1 min read
Article
139 Juewa (/dʒuˈeɪwɑː/ joo-AY-wah) is a very large and dark main belt asteroid. It is probably composed of primitive carbonaceous material. It was the first asteroid discovered from China.
Juewa was discovered from Beijing by the visiting American astronomer James Craig Watson on 10 October 1874; Watson was in China to observe the transit of Venus. Watson asked Prince Gong to name the asteroid. Gong's choice was 瑞華星 (roughly, "Star of China's fortune"). Watson used the first two characters ('star' being redundant), transliterating them Juewa in Wade convention of the time. (In pinyin, 瑞華 is transliterated ruìhuá.)