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
- 31 May 1929
- Pronunciation
- / d ɪ ˈ m iː t ər /
- Named after
- Demeter (Greek mythology)
- Alternative designations
- 1929 KA · 1963 MF
Article
1108 Demeter, provisional designation 1929 KA, is a dark asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 27 kilometers (17 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 31 May 1929, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory near Heidelberg, Germany. The asteroid was named after Demeter, the Greek goddess of fruitful soil and agriculture. It has a rotation period of 9.846 hours.
Orbit and classification