Q157502

Also known as (865) Zubaida, Zubaida

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: M. F. Wolf
Discovery site: Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date: 15 February 1917
Pronunciation: / z uː ˈ b aɪ d ə /
Named after: Zobeide , a character in the opera Abu Hassan , ( Carl Maria von Weber )
Alternative designations: A917 CH · 1936 FK 1 , 1970 GQ 1 · A908 WF, 1917 BO · 1908 WF

~4 min read

Article

865 Zubaida /zuːˈbaɪdə/ is an elongated, stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 15 February 1917, by astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany, and given the provisional designations A917 CH and 1917 BO. The uncommon L-type asteroid has a rotation period of 11.4 hours and measures approximately 17 kilometers (11 miles) in diameter. It was named after Zobeide, a character in the opera Abu Hassan by Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826).

Orbit and classification