581 Tauntonia
Also known as (581) Tauntonia, Tauntonia
outer 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
- J. H. Metcalf
- Discovery site
- Taunton, Massachusetts
- Discovery date
- 24 December 1905
- Pronunciation
- / t ɔː n ˈ t oʊ n i ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1905 SH
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Alauda
Article
581 Tauntonia is a dark Alauda asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 61 kilometers in diameter.
The asteroid is a member of the Alauda family (902), a large family of typically bright carbonaceous asteroids and named after its parent body, 702 Alauda.