746 Marlu

Also known as (746) Marlu, Marlu

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: F. Kaiser
Discovery site: Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date: 1 March 1913
Named after: Marie-Louise Kaiser, (Discoverer's daughter)
Alternative designations: A913 EJ · 1926 WA, 1975 XN · 1913 QY
Minor planet category: main-belt · ( outer ) background

~4 min read

Article

746 Marlu (prov. designation: A913 EJ or 1913 QY) is a dark and large background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 72 kilometers (45 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 1 March 1913, by German astronomer Franz Kaiser at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The primitive P-type asteroid has a rotation period of 7.8 hours. It was named after the discoverer's daughter, Marie-Louise Kaiser.

Orbit and classification