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
- 12 January 1924
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ l ɪ l i ə m /
- Named after
- Līlium ( flowering plant )
- Alternative designations
- 1924 PN · 1929 BE, 1936 QE
~3 min read
Article
1092 Lilium, provisional designation 1924 PN, is a dark, carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 44 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 12 January 1924, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named after the flower Lilium (true lily).
Orbit and classification