302 Clarissa
Also known as (302) Clarissa, Clarissa
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
- Auguste Charlois
- Discovery date
- 14 November 1890
- Alternative designations
- A890 VA; 1909 YA, 1929 CK 1 ; 1946 UN, 1948 ED; 1953 NN
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 124.04 yr (45,305 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.67 AU (400.04 Gm )
~2 min read
Article
302 Clarissa is a typical main-belt asteroid. The asteroid was discovered by the French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 14 November 1890 in Nice. The origin of the name is unknown. In 1991, 302 Clarissa was being considered as a possible flyby target for the Cassini spacecraft, but was later removed from consideration.
This body is orbiting the Sun with a period of 3.73 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.11. The orbital plane is inclined by 3.4° to the plane of the ecliptic. There are no major planetary resonances near the orbit of 302 Clarissa. It has a retrograde spin with a rotation period of 14.4797 hours. Stellar occultation data provides a size estimate of 43±4 km, while IRAS data gives a diameter of 38.5±3.1 km. It is classified as a F-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material.