23 Thalia
Also known as (23) Thalia, Thalia
main-belt asteroid
AI overview
23 Thalia is an asteroid located in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is one of the named asteroids in this region and contributes to our understanding of the solar system's composition and structure.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
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
- J. R. Hind
- Discovery date
- 15 December 1852
- Pronunciation
- / θ ə ˈ l aɪ . ə /
- Named after
- Thalia
- Alternative designations
- 1938 CL; 1974 QT 2
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
~2 min read
Article
23 Thalia (/θəˈlaɪ.ə/) is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by J. R. Hind on 15 December 1852, at the private observatory of W. Bishop, located in Hyde Park, London, England. Bishop named it after Thalia, the Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry in Greek mythology.
It is categorized as an S-type asteroid consisting of mainly of iron- and magnesium-silicates. This the second most common type of asteroid in the main belt. Based on analysis of the light curve, the object has a sidereal rotation period of 0.513202 ± 0.000002 days. An ellipsoidal model of the light curve gives an a/b ratio of 1.28 ± 0.05.