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
- G. van Biesbroeck
- Discovery site
- Yerkes Obs.
- Discovery date
- 27 July 1933
- Named after
- Vassar College , ( Vassar Observatory )
- Alternative designations
- 1933 OT · 1944 QE, A908 CD
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Alauda
~3 min read
Article
1312 Vassar, provisional designation 1933 OT, is a carbonaceous Alauda asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 27 July 1933, by Belgian–American astronomer George Van Biesbroeck at Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin, United States. The asteroid was named for the American Vassar College.
Orbit and classification