787 Moskva

Also known as (787) Moskva, Moskva

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: G. N. Neujmin
Discovery site: Simeis
Discovery date: 20 April 1914
Pronunciation: / m ɒ s k ˈ v ɑː / mosk- VAH
Alternative designations: 1914 UQ
Observation arc: 100.47 yr (36695 d)

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Article

787 Moskva is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It is a dynamic member of the Maria asteroid family orbiting near the 3:1 Kirkwood gap. This is an S-type (stony) asteroid spanning 27 km. The surface mineralogy is consistent with mesosiderite silicates.

Object 1914 UQ, discovered 20 April 1914 by Grigory Neujmin, was named 787 Moskva, after the capital of Russia, Moscow (and retains that name to this day). Object 1934 FD discovered on 19 March 1934 by C. Jackson was given the sequence number 1317. In 1938, G. N. Neujmin found that asteroid 1317 and 787 Moskva were, in fact, the same object. Sequence number 1317 was later reused for the object 1935 RC discovered on 1 September 1935 by Karl Reinmuth; that object is now known as 1317 Silvretta.