97 Klotho

Also known as (97) Klotho, Klotho

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: Ernst Wilhelm Tempel
Discovery date: 17 February 1868
Pronunciation: / ˈ k l oʊ θ oʊ /
Named after: Clotho
Minor planet category: Main belt
Adjectives: Klothoian / k l oʊ ˈ θ oʊ . i ə n /

Article

97 Klotho is a fairly large main-belt asteroid. While it is a metallic M-type asteroid, its radar albedo is too low to allow a nickel-iron composition. Klotho is similar to 21 Lutetia and 22 Kalliope in that all three are M-types of unknown composition. Klotho was found by Ernst Tempel on February 17, 1868. It was his fifth and final asteroid discovery. It is named after Klotho or Clotho, one of the three Moirai, or Fates, in Greek mythology.

This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.67 AU with a moderate eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.25 and an orbital period of 4.37 years. Its orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 11.8° relative to the plane of the ecliptic. 13-cm radar observations of this asteroid from the Arecibo Observatory between 1980 and 1985 were used to produce a diameter estimate of 108 km.