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. Wild
- Discovery site
- Zimmerwald Obs.
- Discovery date
- 23 September 1965
- Named after
- Appenzell ( canton )
- Alternative designations
- 1965 SA · 1934 PM, 1942 TH
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · Nysa
~3 min read
Article
1768 Appenzella (prov. designation: 1965 SA) is a rare-type Nysian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 23 September 1965, by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory near Bern, Switzerland. It was later named after the Swiss canton of Appenzell.
Classification and orbit