187 Lamberta

Also known as (187) Lamberta, Lamberta

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. Coggia , 1878
Discovery date: 11 April 1878
Pronunciation: / l æ m ˈ b ɜːr t ə /
Alternative designations: A878 GB; 1946 LB;, 1948 XR
Minor planet category: Main belt
Observation arc: 113.41 yr (41424 d)

Article

187 Lamberta is a main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Corsican-born French astronomer Jérôme Eugène Coggia on April 11, 1878. It was named after the astronomer Johann Heinrich Lambert. This was the second of Coggia's five asteroid discoveries.

This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.73 AU with a moderate eccentricity of 0.24 and an orbital period of 4.50 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 10.6° to the plane of the ecliptic. It is spinning with a rotation period of 10.67 hours.