Q918806

Also known as 1979 SW11, (3073) 1979 SW11, 1969 VG1, Kursk

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: N. Chernykh
Discovery site: Crimean Astrophysical Obs.
Discovery date: 24 September 1979
Named after: Kursk (Russian city)
Alternative designations: 1979 SW 11 · 1969 VG 1
Minor planet category: main-belt · Flora

~2 min read

Article

3073 Kursk, provisionally known as 1979 SW11, is a stony Florian asteroid and synchronous binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4.7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1979, by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.

Orbit and characterization