Q158137

Also known as (940) Kordula, Kordula

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: K. Reinmuth
Discovery site: Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date: 10 October 1920
Named after: Name picked from the almanac , Lahrer Hinkender Bote
Alternative designations: A920 TE · 1947 BG, 1947 EB · 1954 DB, 1963 PC · 1920 HT
Minor planet category

~4 min read

Article

940 Kordula (prov. designation: A920 TE or 1920 HT) is a large and dark Cybele asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 10 October 1920, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Germany. The carbonaceous F-type asteroid (FC) has a rotation period of 15.6 hours. It was named "Kordula", a common German female name unrelated to the discoverer's contemporaries, that was taken from the almanac Lahrer Hinkender Bote.

Orbit and classification