Q157716

Also known as (899) Jokaste, Jokaste

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: 3 August 1918
Pronunciation: German: [ joːkastə ] , Classically: p / dʒ oʊ ˈ k æ s t iː /
Alternative designations: 1918 EB
Observation arc: 97.71 yr (35688 days)

Article

899 Jokaste is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It was one of five minor planets included in the 1993 study, Transition Comets -- UV Search for OH Emissions in Asteroids, which was research involving amateur astronomers who were permitted to make use of the Hubble Space Telescope. Not to be confused with Iocaste, a moon of Jupiter.

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