Q156881

Also known as (745) Mauritia, Mauritia

outer 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: F. Kaiser
Discovery site: Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date: 1 March 1913
Pronunciation: / m ɒ ˈ r ɪ ʃ ( i ) ə /
Named after: Saint Maurice , ( Christian martyr )
Alternative designations: A913 EH · 1972 BM, 1913 QX

~3 min read

Article

745 Mauritia (prov. designation: A913 EH or 1913 QX) is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 24 kilometers (15 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 1 March 1913, by German astronomer Franz Kaiser at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Germany. The presumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 9.9 hours. It was named after Saint Maurice, patron of the Saint Mauritius church in the city of Wiesbaden, where the discoverer was born.

Orbit and classification