Q140273

Also known as (151) Abundantia, Abundantia

main-belt asteroid

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.

Key facts

Discovered by: J. Palisa
Discovery site: Austrian Naval Obs.
Discovery date: 1 November 1875
Pronunciation: / æ b ə n ˈ d æ n ʃ i ə /
Named after: Abundantia
Alternative designations: A875 VA; 1974 QS 2 , 1974 QZ 2

~2 min read

Article

151 Abundantia is a stony main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on 1 November 1875, from the Austrian Naval Observatory in Pula. The name was chosen by Edmund Weiss of the Vienna Observatory; although the name refers to Abundantia, a Roman goddess of luck, it was also chosen to celebrate the increasing numbers of asteroids that were being discovered in the 1870s.

Information from A. Harris as of 1 March 2001 indicates that 151 Abundantia is an S class (stony) asteroid with a diameter of 45.37 km and H = 9.24 .1728 and albedo of 0.03. The light curve collected over 6 nights from 2/16/2002 to 3/10/2002 confirmed the rotational period to be 19.718h.