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
- S. Arend
- Discovery site
- Uccle Obs.
- Discovery date
- 24 August 1933
- Named after
- Bern , (capital of Switzerland)
- Alternative designations
- 1933 QG · 1926 EA, A911 OA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , background
~5 min read
Article
1313 Berna, provisional designation 1933 QG, is a background asteroid and synchronous binary system from the Eunomian region in the central asteroid belt, approximately 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 August 1933, by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend at the Uccle Observatory in Belgium. The assumed S-type asteroid has a longer-than average rotation period of 25.5 hours and is likely elongated in shape. It was named for the Swiss capital of Bern. The discovery of an 11-kilometer-sized satellite was announced in February 2004.
Orbit and classification