606 Brangäne

Also known as (606) Brangäne, Brangäne

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: A. Kopff
Discovery site: Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date: 18 September 1906
Pronunciation: German: [ ˈbʁaŋɡɛːnə ]
Named after: Brangaine , (opera character)
Alternative designations: 1906 VB

~3 min read

Article

606 Brangäne, provisional designation 1906 VB, is an asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 36 kilometers (22 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 18 September 1906, by astronomer August Kopff at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The unusual K-type asteroid is the namesake of the small Brangäne family and has a rotation period of 12.3 hours. It was named after Brangaine, a character from the opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner.

Orbit and classification