Q156483

Also known as (684) Hildburg, Hildburg

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: A. Kopff
Discovery site: Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date: 8 August 1909
Named after: unknown
Alternative designations: A909 PB · 1928 PB, 1938 CT · 1909 HD
Minor planet category: main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Article

684 Hildburg (prov. designation: A909 PB or 1909 HD) is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 8 August 1909, by German astronomer August Kopff at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 15.9 hours and measures approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. Any reference to the origin of the asteroid's name is unknown.

Orbit and classification