Q156052

Also known as (639) Latona, Latona

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: K. Lohnert
Discovery site: Heidelberg
Discovery date: 19 July 1907
Pronunciation: / l eɪ ˈ t oʊ n ə /
Alternative designations: 1907 ZT
Observation arc: 108.74 yr (39718 d)

~1 min read

Article

639 Latona is a minor planet, specifically an asteroid orbiting in the asteroid belt. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Lohnert on July 19, 1907, at Heidelberg.

Photometric observations of this asteroid at Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado Springs, Colorado, during 2007 gave a light curve with a period of 6.139 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.08 ± 0.01 in magnitude. This confirms period measurements of about 6.2 hours reported in 1987 and 2001.