Q151832

Also known as (356) Liguria, Liguria

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: Auguste Charlois
Discovery date: 21 January 1893
Pronunciation: / l ɪ ˈ ɡ j ʊər i ə /
Named after: Liguria
Alternative designations: 1893 G
Minor planet category: Main belt

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Article

356 Liguria is a very large main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Auguste Charlois on January 21, 1893, in Nice. It is one of seven of Charlois's discoveries that was expressly named by the Astromomisches Rechen-Institut (Astronomical Calculation Institute), and was named for the Italian region.

13-cm radar observations of this asteroid from the Arecibo Observatory between 1980 and 1985 were used to produce a diameter estimate of 155 km.