1772 Gagarin

Also known as (1772) Gagarin, Gagarin

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: L. Chernykh
Discovery site: Crimean Astrophysical Obs.
Discovery date: 6 February 1968
Named after: Yuri Gagarin ( cosmonaut )
Alternative designations: 1968 CB · 1940 GA, 1942 VZ · 1948 ET, 1960 FH · 1969 OO
Minor planet category

~3 min read

Article

1772 Gagarin (prov. designation: 1968 CB) is a stony background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 6 February 1968, by Russian astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean Peninsula. The asteroid was named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

Orbit and classification