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. J. van Houten , I. van Houten-G. , T. Gehrels
- Discovery site
- Palomar Obs.
- Discovery date
- 24 September 1960
- Named after
- Bernhard Schmidt , (German optician)
- Alternative designations
- 4109 P-L · 1931 BJ, 1939 CN · 1943 EA, 1947 GD · 1951 JU, 1952 QD
- Minor planet category
~4 min read
Article
1743 Schmidt, provisional designation 4109 P-L, is a dark background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey on 24 September 1960, by astronomers Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in California. The C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 17.5 hours. It was named for the optician Bernhard Schmidt.
Orbit and classification