315 Constantia

Also known as (315) Constantia, Constantia

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.

Small body data

315 Constantia (A891 RB)

Orbit class: Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter: 6.534 km
Albedo: 0.217
Rotation period: 5.345 h
Absolute magnitude: 12.560 H
Earth MOID: 0.853 AU

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Article

315 Constantia is a stony background asteroid from the inner region of the asteroid belt, approximately 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) in diameter. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at the Vienna Observatory on 4 September 1891. The asteroid is a member of the Flora family. It is spinning with a rotation period of 5.345±0.003 h and shows a brightness variation of 0.57±0.2 in magnitude.

References