Q114710

Also known as (660) Crescentia, Crescentia

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: 8 January 1908
Pronunciation: / k r ə ˈ s ɛ n ʃ ə /
Alternative designations: 1908 CC
Observation arc: 106.74 yr (38987 d)

~2 min read

Article

660 Crescentia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by American astronomer Joel Hastings Metcalf on January 8, 1908. The name may have been inspired by the asteroid's provisional designation 1908 CC. Peter Ting points out that the Rev. Joel Metcalf of Taunton (Massachusetts) discovered six asteroids with unexplained names, though listed in Lutz Schmadel's book. Ting used an on-line planetarium website to help with the location of some of the planets, playing back to the night of discovery. He noticed that there was a crescent moon (33%) low in the western sky and wonders if the Rev. Metcalf could have named the asteroid for the Moon. Crescentia would be a very unusual name for a person but not for a phase of the Moon.

Crescentia is a member of the dynamic Maria family of asteroids that most likely formed as the result of a collisional breakup of a parent body.