Q151289
Also known as (331) Etheridgea, Etheridgea
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.
© Marek Nikodem (PPSAE) · via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- Auguste Charlois
- Discovery date
- 1 April 1892
- Pronunciation
- / ˌ ɛ θ ə ˈ r ɪ dʒ i ə /
- Named after
- Possibly Robert Etheridge
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 123.95 yr (45,274 d)
~2 min read
Article
331 Etheridgea is a large main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 1 April 1892 in Nice. The meaning of the name is unknown. This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 3.02 AU with a period of 5.26 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.10. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 6.05° to the plane of the ecliptic.
Analysis of the asteroid light curve generated from photometric data collected in 2015 provided a rotation period of 25.315±0.001 h. This result is completely different from the previous rotation period estimates. It is a low albedo, carbonaceous C-type asteroid and spans a girth of 74.9±2.7 km.