Q110252
Also known as (286) Iclea, Iclea
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.
© Marek Nikodem (PPSAE) · via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- Johann Palisa
- Discovery date
- 3 August 1889
- Pronunciation
- French: [ ikle.a ]
- Named after
- Icléa
- Alternative designations
- A889 PB
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
Article
286 Iclea is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on 3 August 1889 in Vienna, and named for the heroine of Camille Flammarion's astronomical romance Uranie. This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 3.19 AU with a period of 5.711 years and an orbital eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.029. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 17.9° to the plane of the ecliptic.
This asteroid has a classification of CX in the Tholen taxonomy, indicating a generally carbonaceous composition. Infrared measurements indicate a cross-sectional diameter of approximately 94.3 km. Photometric observations of this asteroid in 2001 provided a light curve that was used to derive a synodic rotation period of 15.365±0.002 hours with an amplitude of 0.15 magnitude.