202 Chryseïs
Also known as (202) Chryseïs, Chryseïs
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.
© Marek Nikodem (PPSAE) · via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- C. H. F. Peters
- Discovery date
- 11 September 1879
- Pronunciation
- / k r aɪ ˈ s iː ɪ s /
- Named after
- Chryseis
- Alternative designations
- A879 RA, A901 TA, 1935 BL
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
~1 min read
Article
202 Chryseïs is a large, lightly coloured main belt asteroid that is probably composed of silicate rocks. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on September 11, 1879, in Clinton, New York, and was named after the mythical Trojan woman Chryseis. 202 Chryseïs is orbiting the Sun with a semimajor axis of 3.07 AU and an eccentricity of 0.102, which brings it as close to the Sun as 2.76 AU and as far away as 3.39 AU during the course of its 5.38 year orbital period. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 8.85° relative to the plane of the ecliptic.
The rotation period for this asteroid is close to a day long, so the construction of a complete light curve requires photometric observations from multiple locations at widely spaced latitudes. This task was completed in January and February, 2011, yielding a synodic rotation period of 23.670 ± 0.001 h, with a brightness variation of 0.20 ± 0.02 in magnitude. This is a stony, S-type asteroid. Based on infrared observations, it has a diameter of 86.15±2.4 km.