Q158453

Also known as (981) Martina, Martina

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: S. Belyavskyj
Discovery site: Simeiz Obs.
Discovery date: 23 September 1917
Named after: Henri Martin , (French historian)
Alternative designations: A917 SW · 1917 Σ92, 1906 SD · 1928 TG, 1942 EY · 1949 MF, 1953 FG · 1959 GF, 1959 JF · 1966 QA, A906 SD
Minor planet category

~3 min read

Article

981 Martina (prov. designation: A917 SW or 1917 Σ92) is a carbonaceous Themistian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 31 kilometers (19 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 23 September 1917, by Russian astronomer Sergey Belyavsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The C/B-type asteroid has a rotation period of 11.3 hours. It was named after French historian and revolutionary Henri Martin (1810–1883).

Orbit and classification