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
- K. Reinmuth
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 20 November 1925
- Pronunciation
- / f ɔːr ˈ s ɪ t i ə /
- Named after
- Forsythia ( flowering plant )
- Alternative designations
- 1925 WD · 1962 DD, A907 EA
~3 min read
Article
1054 Forsytia /fɔːrˈsɪtiə/ is a dark background asteroid, approximately 46 kilometers in diameter, from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 20 November 1925, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany and assigned provisional designation 1925 WD. It is named after the flowering plant forsythia, and marks the beginning of a sequence of 28 thematically named asteroids by the discoverer.
Orbit and classification