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
- C. Jackson
- Discovery site
- Johannesburg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 9 August 1936
- Named after
- Mthatha , (South-African town)
- Alternative designations
- 1936 PG · 1931 GK, 1945 QF · 1945 RC, 1948 EB 1
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , background
~3 min read
Article
1397 Umtata, provisional designation 1936 PG, is an asteroid from the background population of the asteroid belt's central region, approximately 21 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by South-African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg on 9 August 1936. The asteroid was named after the South-African town of Mthatha, formerly known as Umtata.
Orbit and classification