277 Elvira
Also known as (277) Elvira, Elvira
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.
© Marek Nikodem (PPSAE) · via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- Auguste Charlois
- Discovery date
- 3 May 1888
- Alternative designations
- A888 JA
- Minor planet category
- Main belt ( Koronis )
- Observation arc
- 116.65 yr (42607 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.14812 AU (470.952 Gm )
Article
277 Elvira is a typical main belt asteroid and is a member of the Koronis asteroid family. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 3 May 1888 in Nice. 277 Elvira is possibly named for a character in Alphonse de Lamartine's Méditations poétiques (1820) and Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (1830).
A group of astronomers, including Lucy D’Escoffier Crespo da Silva and Richard P. Binzel, used observations made between 1998 through 2000 to determine the spin-vector alignment of the Koronis family of asteroids, including 277 Elvira. The collaborative work resulted in the creation of 61 new individual rotation lightcurves to augment previous published observations.