Q158353

Also known as (968) Petunia, Petunia

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: 24 November 1921
Pronunciation: / p ɪ ˈ tj uː n i ə /
Named after: Petunia , (genus of flowers)
Alternative designations: A921 WJ · 1935 QK 1 , 1948 KC · 1921 KW

Article

968 Petunia (prov. designation: A921 WJ or 1921 KW), is a stony asteroid of the Itha family, approximately 28 kilometers (17 miles) in diameter, located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 24 November 1921, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. The bright S-type asteroid has a long rotation period of 61.3 hours. It was named after the genus of flowering plants, Petunia.

Orbit and classification