714 Ulula

Also known as (714) Ulula, Ulula

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: J. Helffrich
Discovery site: Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date: 18 May 1911
Pronunciation: / ˈ ʌ l j ʊ l ə /
Alternative designations: 1911 LW
Observation arc: 104.92 yr (38323 d)

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Article

714 Ulula is a main belt asteroid. It is orbiting the Sun near the 3:1 Kirkwood Gap with a period of 4.04 years and an eccentricity of 0.057. It was discovered by German astronomer J. Helffrich on 18 May 1911 from the Heidelberg Observatory and was named after an order of owls. The asteroid has a mean radius of 20 km and is spinning with a rotation period of seven hours. Its pole of rotation lies just 4–14° away from the plane of the ecliptic. The surface spectrum shows a pyroxene chemistry and is consistent with mesosiderites/HED meteorites.

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