357 Ninina
Also known as (357) Ninina, Ninina
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
- 11 February 1893
- Alternative designations
- 1893 J
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 108.56 yr (39650 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.38973 AU (507.096 Gm )
Article
357 Ninina is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on February 11, 1893, in Nice. The reference of its name is not known, though Ninine is a French personal name. This minor planet is orbiting at a distance of 3.16 AU from the Sun with a period of 5.61 years and an orbital eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.074. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 15.1° to the plane of the ecliptic.
Photometric observations of 357 Ninina during 2023 provided a light curve that presents an Earth commensurate rotation period of 36.00±0.01 h with a brightness amplitude of 0.08±0.01 in magnitude. In 2024, spin shape modelling using the light curve inversion technique show a blocky, rounded figure, with a refined rotation period of 35.9840±0.0005 h