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 August 1929
- Named after
- Arabian Peninsula
- Alternative designations
- 1929 QC · 1955 EC
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , background
~3 min read
Article
1157 Arabia, provisional designation 1929 QC, is an asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 29 kilometers in diameter. Astronomer Karl Reinmuth discovered it at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany on 31 August 1929. The asteroid was named for the Arabian Peninsula.
Orbit and classification