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.
© Marek Nikodem (PPSAE) · via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- J. Schubart
- Discovery site
- Sonneberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 29 July 1960
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ h ɜːr ʃ əl /
- Named after
- William Herschel , (German-British astronomer)
- Alternative designations
- 1960 OA · 1934 NX
~4 min read
Article
2000 Herschel, provisional designation 1960 OA, is a stony Phocaea asteroid and a tumbling slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 16 kilometers (10 miles) in diameter. It was discovered 29 July 1960, by German astronomer Joachim Schubart at Sonneberg Observatory in eastern Germany. The S-type asteroid has a long rotation period of 130 hours. It was named after astronomer William Herschel.
Orbit and classification