722 Frieda
Also known as (722) Frieda, Frieda
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
- J. Palisa
- Discovery site
- Vienna Obs.
- Discovery date
- 18 October 1911
- Pronunciation
- German: [ ˈfʁiːdaː ]
- Named after
- Frieda Hillebrand, daughter and grand-daughter of: , Karl Hillebrand [ de ] (1861–1939) , Edmund Weiss (1837–1917)
- Alternative designations
Article
722 Frieda (prov. designation: A911 UN or 1911 NA) is a bright background asteroid and slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at the Vienna Observatory on 18 October 1911. The stony S-type asteroid has a notably long rotation period of 131.1 hours and measures approximately 9 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter. It was named after Frieda Hillebrand, daughter of Austrian astronomer Karl Hillebrand [de] (1861–1939), and grand-daughter of Edmund Weiss (1837–1917) who had been the director of the discovering observatory.
Orbit and classification