810 Atossa

Also known as (810) Atossa, Atossa

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: M. F. Wolf
Discovery site: Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date: 8 September 1915
Pronunciation: / ə ˈ t ɒ s ə /
Named after: Atossa (550–475 BC), (Persian queen)
Alternative designations: A915 RS · 1931 PF, 1934 NB · 1947 PA, 1915 XQ

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Article

810 Atossa (prov. designation: A915 RS or 1915 XQ) is a bright and elongated background asteroid from the region of the Flora family, located in the inner portion of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 8 September 1915, by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southern Germany. The presumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 4.4 hours and measures approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) in diameter. It was named after the ancient Persian queen Atossa (550–475 BC).

Orbit and classification