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
- P. Djurkovic
- Discovery site
- Belgrade Obs.
- Discovery date
- 27 August 1940
- Named after
- Zvezdara , (location, "star-house")
- Alternative designations
- 1940 QC · 1929 PM, 1951 SB · 1951 SO, 1955 XP · 1962 WJ
- Minor planet category
~3 min read
Article
1700 Zvezdara, provisional designation 1940 QC, is a dark asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 21 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 27 August 1940, by Serbian astronomer Petar Đurković at Belgrade Astronomical Observatory, Serbia, and named after the Zvezdara hill in Belgrade.
Orbit and classification