Q125890

Also known as (457) Alleghenia, Alleghenia

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: M. Wolf , F. Schwassmann
Discovery site: Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date: 15 September 1900 ; 125 years ago ( 1900-09-15 )
Pronunciation: / æ l ə ˈ ɡ eɪ n i ə /
Named after: Allegheny, Pennsylvania , ( John Brashear optics)
Alternative designations

Article

457 Alleghenia, provisional designation 1900 FJ, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, about 34 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 September 1900, by German astronomers Max Wolf and Friedrich Schwassmann at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany.

The C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 5 months (1,987 days). Its orbit is tilted by 13 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic and shows an eccentricity of 0.17. Based on assumptions made by the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link, the body has a low albedo of 0.06, a typical value for a carbonaceous asteroid. In 2014, photometric light-curve observations at the Los Algarrobos Observatory (OLASU, I38), Uruguay, has given a rotation period of 21.953±0.001 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.20 in magnitude. It was the last among the first 500 numbered asteroids to have its period measured for the first time (also see 398 Admete).