140 Siwa

Also known as (140) Siwa, Siwa

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: J. Palisa
Discovery site: Austrian Naval Obs.
Discovery date: 13 October 1874
Pronunciation: / ˈ ʃ iː w ə /
Named after: Živa
Alternative designations: A874 TB; 1948 AL

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Article

140 Siwa is a large and dark main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on October 13, 1874. It was named after Živa (Šiwa), a Slavic goddess of fertility. This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.73 AU with an eccentricity of 0.22 and an orbital period of 4.52 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 3.2°.

A 2004 study of the spectrum of 140 Siwa matched a typical C-type asteroid with typical carbonaceous chondrite makeup. There are no absorption features of mafic minerals found. The classification was later revised to a P-type asteroid.