Q158366

Also known as (969) Leocadia, Leocadia

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

Discovery site: Simeiz Obs.
Discovery date: 5 November 1921
Pronunciation: / l iː oʊ ˈ k eɪ d i ə /
Named after: unknown
Alternative designations: A921 VC · 1940 RV, 1944 SB · 1948 UG, 1963 PA · 1921 KZ
Minor planet category: main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Article

969 Leocadia (prov. designation: A921 VC or 1921 KZ) is a very dark background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 5 November 1921, by Russian astronomer Sergey Belyavsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The uncommon F-type asteroid (FX) has a rotation period of 6.9 hours and is likely regular in shape. Any reference of the asteroid's name to a person is unknown.

Orbit and classification