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
- E. F. Helin , S. J. Bus
- Discovery site
- Palomar Obs.
- Discovery date
- 7 November 1978
- Pronunciation
- / ɛ dj uː ˈ k eɪ ʃ i oʊ /
- Named after
- Education ( ēducātio )
- Alternative designations
- 1978 VQ 4 · 1928 QH, 1954 JK · 1968 US 1 , 1977 JG
~3 min read
Article
2440 Educatio /ɛdjuːˈkeɪʃioʊ/ is a Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6.6 kilometers (4.1 miles) in diameter. The possibly elongated S-type asteroid has an exceptionally long rotation period of 1561 hours and is one of the slowest rotators known to exist. It was discovered on 7 November 1978, by American astronomers Eleanor Helin and Schelte Bus at the Palomar Observatory in California, and later named "Educatio", the Latin word for Education.
Orbit and classification