804 Hispania

Also known as (804) Hispania, Hispania

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. Comas Solá
Discovery date: 20 March 1915
Pronunciation: / h ɪ ˈ s p eɪ n i ə /
Named after: Spain
Alternative designations: 1915 WT
Minor planet category: Main belt

Article

804 Hispania is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It was discovered from Barcelona (Spain) on 20 March 1915 by Josep Comas Solá (1868–1937), the first asteroid to be discovered by a Spaniard.

Hispania is a carbonaceous C-type asteroid. Busarev and Taran (2002) classed it as CP type with a spectrum that shows a highly hydrated body. It has a diameter of 122 kilometers according to measurements made with the W. M. Keck Observatory. This is 30% smaller than the size estimated from the IRAS observatory data. It has a size ratio of 1.16 between its major and minor axes. Two alternate rotation periods have been found for this asteroid: 7.4 hours and double that at 14.8 hours. To explain this discrepancy, it is possible the asteroid has a peculiar shape or it may be a double asteroid.