Q157116

Also known as (793) Arizona, Arizona

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: P. Lowell
Discovery site: Lowell Observatory
Discovery date: 9 April 1907
Alternative designations: 1907 ZD
Observation arc: 108.93 yr (39788 d)
Aphelion: 3.1456 AU (470.58 Gm )

~2 min read

Article

793 Arizona is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered April 9, 1907 by American businessman Percival Lowell at Flagstaff. It was named for the state of Arizona. The object was independently discovered on April 17, 1907, by J. H. Metcalf at Taunton. This is a main belt asteroid orbiting 2.8 AU from the Sun with a period of 4.675 yr and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.13. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 15.8° to the plane of the ecliptic.

Photometric observations at the Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado Springs, Colorado during the winter of 2007–2008 were used to build a light curve for this asteroid. The asteroid displayed a period of 7.367±0.005 h and a brightness change of 0.25±0.02 in magnitude. It spans a diameter of approximately 29 km and is a candidate D-type asteroid with an unusual spectrum.