Q536659

Also known as (742) Edisona, Edisona

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: Franz Kaiser
Discovery site: Heidelberg
Discovery date: 23 February 1913
Alternative designations: 1913 QU
Observation arc: 102.98 yr (37,612 d)
Aphelion: 3.3678 AU (503.82 Gm )

~1 min read

Article

742 Edisona is a minor planet, specifically an asteroid orbiting in the asteroid belt that was discovered by German astronomer Franz Kaiser on February 23, 1913. It was named for inventor Thomas Edison. This asteroid is orbiting 3.01 AU with a period of 5.22 years and an eccentricity of 0.119. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 11.2° to the plane of the ecliptic. This is a member of the dynamic Eos family of asteroids that most likely formed as the result of a collisional breakup of a parent body.

Photometric observations made during 2008 were used to produce a light curve of 742 Edisona showing a rotation period of 18.52±0.01 with a brightness variation of 0.30±0.01 in magnitude. It spans a girth of approximately 45.6 km.