Q157693

Also known as (895) Helio, Helio

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: Max Wolf
Discovery site: Heidelberg
Discovery date: 11 July 1918
Pronunciation: / ˈ h iː l i oʊ /
Alternative designations: 1918 DU
Adjectives: Helian / ˈ h iː l i ə n /

Article

895 Helio is a large dark outer main-belt asteroid about 150 km in diameter. It was discovered on 11 July 1918 by German astronomer Max Wolf. It is named after the element helium, whose spectrum was studied by Friedrich Paschen and Carl David Tolmé Runge, with the asteroid being named by Paschen at Wolf's request; the name helium itself comes from Helios, the Greek god of the Sun.

This is a B-type asteroid. The best spectral analog for 895 Heloi is the iron rich pyroxene mineral hedenbergite. It shares similar orbital properties with the 31 Euphrosyne asteroid family, but is most likely an interloper. Light curve analysis provides a rotation period of 9.4 hours.