Basics
Class: C-type asteroid
Location: Main belt
Orbit length (approx): 4.55 years
Discovered: 5th October 1855 (time unknown), from Paris, France, by Hermann Goldschmidt
Notes: Large, dark asteroid; shares a mean-motion resonance with Jupiter and Saturn.
Events at time of discovery:
- July 4 – Walt Whitman’s poetry collection Leaves of Grass is published in Brooklyn.
- September 15 – Birth of Orishatukeh Faduma, Guyana-born African-American Christian missionary, educator and advocate for African culture
- September 27 – Alfred Tennyson reads from his new book Maud and other poems, at a social gathering in the home of Robert and Elizabeth Browning in London; Dante Gabriel Rossetti makes a sketch of him doing so.
Naming information
Name origin: Greek; Arkadian heroine.
Mythology: Atalante was left to die at birth but rescued by a bear and later raised by hunters. Eventually she was reunited with her father, who insisted that she marry; she insisted she would only marry the man defeating her in a footrace, while those who lost were killed. Hippomenes won the race against her with the help of three sacred apples he received from Aphrodite. However, he neglected to pay the goddess her dues and she cursed him, finally resulting in the couple being turned into lions.
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| Atalanta surrounded by three Erotes, Attic white-ground lekythos, c. 500–470 BCE. Photo by Daderot. |
Astrological data
Discovery degree: 13+ Pisces
Discovery Sabian: A Lady Wrapped in a Large Stole of Fox Fur
Discovery nodal signature: Pisces–Libra
Estimated orbital resonances: Mercury 1:19, Mars 7:15, Jupiter 13:5, Saturn 13:2
Discovery chart details: Noon. Atalante was semi-sextile Vesta. Pluto was conjunct, Juno quincunx and Eris sextile the North Node; Pluto and Eris were also in a Yod with retrograde Venus. Mars quincunx Pholus; Jupiter semi-sextile Chiron and sesquiquadrate Nessus; Saturn sextile Asbolus. Uranus trine Pholus; Pallas conjunct Neptune. Ceres was semi-square Sedna.
Summary
Could represent single-mindedness, or fixation on a particular concept; strategic moves to gain acceptance or protect from encroachment; romantic mismatches, or the often stifling impact of patriarchy on female excellence.
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| Noon discovery chart for (36) Atalante: 5th October 1855, Paris, France. |