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
- B. Jekhovsky
- Discovery site
- Algiers Obs.
- Discovery date
- 20 January 1925
- Named after
- Dorothea Klumpke , (American astronomer)
- Alternative designations
- 1925 BD · 1930 DC 1 , 1936 BB
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Tirela
~4 min read
Article
1040 Klumpkea, provisional designation 1925 BD, is a Tirela asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 23 kilometers (14 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 20 January 1925, by Russian–French astronomer Benjamin Jekhowsky at the Algiers Observatory in North Africa. This highly elongated asteroid is the largest member of the stony Tirela family – also known as the Klumpkea family – and has a longer than average rotation period of 59.2 hours. It was named after American astronomer Dorothea Klumpke.
Orbit and classification