82 Alkmene

Also known as (82) Alkmene, Alkmene

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: Karl Theodor Robert Luther
Discovery date: 27 November 1864
Pronunciation: / æ l k ˈ m iː n iː /
Named after: Alcmene
Minor planet category: Main belt
Adjectives: Alkmenean / æ l k ˈ m iː n i ə n /

~1 min read

Article

82 Alkmene is a main-belt asteroid. Alkmene was discovered by R. Luther on 27 November 1864 and named after Alcmene, the mother of Herakles in Greek mythology. Based on IRAS data, Alkmene is estimated to be about 61 kilometres (38 mi) in diameter. The presence of a satellite around the asteroid has been suggested based on 1985 lightcurve data.

Asteroid Alkmene occulted the apparent magnitude 7.5 star HIP 99229 in the constellation of Capricornus on 18 September 2014 around 06:41 UT (17 September 23:41 PDT) and was centered on Sacramento, CA. Alkmene projected an eclipse shadow that moves at about 3.2 km/s (2 mi/s). Asteroid occultations allow for accurate 2-dimensional mapping of an asteroids silhouette when observed by multiple telescopes separated by about 10 km (6.2 mi).