Q155060

Also known as (516) Amherstia, Amherstia

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: Raymond Smith Dugan
Discovery date: 20 September 1903
Named after: Amherst College
Alternative designations: 1903 MG; 1938 YO
Minor planet category: Main belt
Observation arc: 112.26 yr (41003 d)

~1 min read

Article

516 Amherstia was the 8th asteroid discovered by Raymond Smith Dugan, and was named after Amherst College, his alma mater. Amherstia is a large M-type main belt asteroid, with an estimated diameter of 73 km. It follows an eccentric orbit between Jupiter and Mars, with an orbital period of 4.39 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 13° to the ecliptic.

In 1989, the asteroid was observed from the Collurania-Teramo Observatory, allowing a light curve to be produced that showed an estimated rotation period of 7.49 hours and a brightness variation of 0.25 ± 0.01 in magnitude. On January 14, 2002, Amherstia was observed to occult the seventh-magnitude star SAO 60107 from ten sites in Florida. The measured timing chords were used to estimate a cross-section diameter of 41.9±3.3 km with a generally circular profile. The near infrared spectra of Amherstia suggests a surface consisting of a single mafic silicate with iron–nickel alloy. The infrared albedo is 16%.