186 Celuta

Also known as (186) Celuta, Celuta

50 km 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: P. M. Henry , 1878
Discovery date: 6 April 1878
Pronunciation: / s ɛ ˈ l uː t ə /
Alternative designations: A878 GA; 1954 FD
Minor planet category: Main belt
Observation arc: 132.36 yr (48343 d)

Article

186 Celuta is a main belt asteroid. It was discovered by the French astronomers Paul Henry and Prosper Henry on April 6, 1878. This was the last discovery credited to the Prosper brothers. The asteroid is named after Céluta, a female character in two works of fiction by François-René de Chateaubriand, Atala (1801) and René (1802). The Henry brothers had already named another of their discoveries, 152 Atala, after the heroine of Atala. Both Atala and Céluta are American Indian fictional characters.

This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.36 km with an eccentricity of 0.15 and an orbital period of 3.63 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 13.2° relative to the plane of the ecliptic. 186 Celuta has a diameter of 50 km and it is classified as a stony S-type asteroid.