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
- Y. Väisälä
- Discovery site
- Turku Obs.
- Discovery date
- 8 March 1938
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ f ɛ n i ə /
- Named after
- Finland (Scandinavian country)
- Alternative designations
- 1938 ED 1
~4 min read
Article
1453 Fennia, provisional designation 1938 ED1, is a stony Hungaria asteroid and synchronous binary system from the innermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by Yrjö Väisälä at the Turku Observatory in 1938, the asteroid was later named after the Nordic country of Finland. The system's minor-planet moon was discovered in 2007. It has a derived diameter of 1.95 kilometers and is orbiting its primary every 23.55 hours.
Discovery