Q158481

Also known as (987) Wallia, Wallia

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: 23 October 1922
Named after: Name picked from the almanac , Lahrer Hinkender Bote
Alternative designations: A922 UB · 1922 MR, A899 PJ
Minor planet category: main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Article

987 Wallia (provisional designation: A922 UB or 1922 MR) is a large background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 52 kilometers (32 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 23 October 1922, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. The D/T-type asteroid has a rotation period of 10.1 hours and shows an unusual trinomial lightcurve. It was named after a common German female name, unrelated to the discoverer's contemporaries, and taken from the almanac Lahrer Hinkender Bote.

Orbit and classification