181 Eucharis

Also known as (181) Eucharis, Eucharis

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: Pablo Cottenot
Discovery date: 2 February 1878
Pronunciation: / ˈ j uː k ə r ɪ s /
Named after: Eucharis
Alternative designations: A878 CB; 1906 GA
Minor planet category: Main belt

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Article

181 Eucharis is a large, slowly rotating main-belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer Pablo Cottenot on February 2, 1878, from Marseille Observatory. It was his only asteroid discovery. This object was named after Eucharis, a nymph from the 17th-century novel Les Aventures de Télémaque. It is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 3.13 AU with a moderate eccentricity of 0.20 and an orbital period of 5.54 years.

In the Tholen classification system, it is categorized as a stony S-type asteroid, while the Bus asteroid taxonomy system lists it as an Xk asteroid. Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Goat Mountain Astronomical Research Station in Rancho Cucamonga, California during 2007 gave a light curve with a leisurely rotation period of 52.23 ± 0.05 hours. Based on infrared measurements, it has a diameter of 116 km.