Q155428

Also known as (549) Jessonda, Jessonda

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: Max Wolf
Discovery site: Heidelberg
Discovery date: 15 November 1904
Pronunciation: German: [ jɛsɔndaː ]
Alternative designations: 1904 PK
Observation arc: 111.42 yr (40695 d)

~1 min read

Article

549 Jessonda is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. According to the Catalogue of Minor Planet Names and Discovery Circumstances, it is "named presumably after the character in the opera of the same name by the German composer, conductor and violinist Ludwig Spohr (1784–1859), one of the leading composers in the early romantic period.' (Around 1904 Max Wolf named numerous asteroids he had discovered after female characters in opera.)

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