Q157504
Also known as (866) Fatme, Fatme
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.
© Marek Nikodem (PPSAE) · via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- M. F. Wolf
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 25 February 1917
- Named after
- Fatme, a character in the opera Abu Hassan , ( Carl Maria von Weber )
- Alternative designations
- A917 DG · 1950 DF 1 , 1917 BQ
- Minor planet category
~4 min read
Article
866 Fatme (prov. designation: A917 DG or 1917 BQ) is a large background asteroid, approximately 86 kilometers (53 miles) in diameter, located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 25 February 1917. The X-type asteroid has a short rotation period of 5.8 hours. It was named after "Fatme", a character in the opera Abu Hassan by Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826).
Orbit and classification