Q157526

Also known as (869) Mellena, Mellena

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: R. Schorr
Discovery site: Bergedorf Obs.
Discovery date: 9 May 1917
Named after: Werner von Melle , (mayor of Hamburg)
Alternative designations: A917 JB · 1931 RC, 1944 OB · 1952 DL 2 , 1917 BV
Minor planet category: main-belt · ( middle ) , background

~4 min read

Article

869 Mellena (prov. designation: A917 JB or 1917 BV) is a dark background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 9 May 1917, by astronomer Richard Schorr at the Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg. The carbonaceous C-type asteroid has a shorter than average rotation period of 6.5 hours and measures approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. It was named after Werner von Melle (1853–1937), mayor of Hamburg, who founded the discovering observatory.

Orbit and classification