79 Eurynome

Also known as (79) Eurynome, Eurynome

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.

Small body data

79 Eurynome (A863 RA)

Orbit class: Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter: 63.479 km
Albedo: 0.287
Rotation period: 5.978 h
Absolute magnitude: 7.780 H
Earth MOID: 0.987 AU

Article

79 Eurynome is a quite large and bright main-belt asteroid composed of silicate rock. Eurynome was discovered by J. C. Watson on September 14, 1863. It was his first asteroid discovery and is named after one of the many Eurynomes in Greek mythology. It is orbiting the Sun with a period of 3.82 years and has a rotation period of six hours. This is the eponymous member of a proposed asteroid family with at least 43 members, including 477 Italia and 917 Lyka.

References