Q114646

Also known as (696) Leonora, Leonora

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: Joel Hastings Metcalf
Discovery site: Taunton, Massachusetts
Discovery date: 10 January 1910
Alternative designations: 1910 JJ
Minor planet category: main-belt · ( outer ) , Meliboea
Observation arc: 95.46 yr (34866 d)

~1 min read

Article

696 Leonora is a Meliboean asteroid orbiting the Sun in the asteroid belt. It was discovered 10 January 1910 by American astronomer Joel Hastings Metcalf, at Taunton, Massachusetts. It was named by Arthur Snow of the United States Naval Observatory, who computed the orbit for the planet, after his wife, Mary Leonora Snow.

References