378 Holmia

Also known as (378) Holmia, Holmia

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.

Key facts

Discovered by: Auguste Charlois
Discovery date: 6 December 1893
Pronunciation: / ˈ h oʊ ( l ) m i ə /
Named after: Stockholm
Alternative designations: A893 XA · 1953 XS 1 · 1960 FJ · 1962 TP · 1962 UC · 1979 KP 1
Minor planet category: Main belt

~2 min read

Article

378 Holmia is a stony asteroid located in the main asteroid belt. It was discovered on 6 December 1893 by French astronomer Auguste Charlois at Nice Observatory. Its name comes from the Holmia, the Latin name for Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. It is irregular in shape and 27.831 kilometres (17.293 mi) in diameter, rotating once every 4.44 hours.

Discovery and naming