781 Kartvelia

Also known as (781) Kartvelia, Kartvelia

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.

Key facts

Discovered by: G. N. Neujmin
Discovery site: Simeis
Discovery date: 25 January 1914
Pronunciation: / k ɑːr t ˈ v iː l i ə /
Alternative designations: 1914 UF
Observation arc: 89.79 yr (32797 d)

Article

781 Kartvelia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by Georgian–Russian astronomer Grigory Neujmin on January 25, 1914. Kartvelia comes from the historic name for the inhabitants of the nation of Georgia. This object is orbiting at a distance of 3.22 AU with an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.12 and a period of 5.78 yr. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 19.1° to the plane of the ecliptic.

This asteroid is rotating with a period of 19.0 hours and spans an estimated girth of 66 km. It is tentatively classified as type CPU in the Tholen taxonomic system, with the C indicating a carbonaceous object. This is the namesake of a family of 49–232 asteroids that share similar spectral properties and orbital elements; hence they may have arisen from the same collisional event. All members have a relatively high orbital inclination.