Basics
Class: Q-type asteroid
Location: Near Earth, Apollo group
Orbit length (approx): 1.47 years
Discovered: 27th December 1975, 07:08 UTC, from Palomar Observatory, CA, by Charles Kowal
Notes: Tantalus is a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA). Its orbit is well-determined for the next several hundred years. Due to pass close to Earth in 2038.
Events at time of discovery:
- December 24 – Birth of Bernard Herrmann, American composer
- December 27 – A cave-in killed 372 coal miners at the Chasnala Colliery of IISCO, the Indian Iron and Steel Company, in the worst mining disaster in the history of India. After an explosion, millions of gallons of floodwater roared into the coal pits near Dhanbad in the Jharkhand state.
- – The “rally towel” made its debut for sports fans, as football’s Pittsburgh Steelers distributed 30,000 of the gold and black items, which would later be called the “Terrible Towel”.
- December 30 – Birth of Elene Akhvlediani, Soviet painter
Naming information
Name origin: Greek king of Lydia, son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto.
Mythology: Through his son Pelops, Tantalos was the founder of the house of Atreus. By offering Pelops as a sacrifice to test the gods, he incurred their wrath and was sent to Tartarus. His eternal punishment was to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches moved away. Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded before he could get any.
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| Tantalus (c.1630s-1640s), painting by Gioacchino Assereto. |
Astrological data
Discovery degree: 8+ Cancer
Discovery Sabian: A Small, Naked Girl Bends Over a Pond Trying to Catch a Fish
Discovery nodal signature: Gemini–Capricorn
Estimated orbital resonances: Venus 5:12, Earth 11:16, Mars 13:9, Ceres 19:6, Saturn 20:1
Discovery chart details: Last quarter phase chart with Pallas and Vesta descending. Tantalus was sesquiquadrate Venus. Moon semi-square Neptune and quincunx Vesta. Mercury sextile the North Node; Venus quincunx Chiron; retrograde Mars square Juno and semi-square Sedna. Jupiter trine Asbolus; Saturn semi-sextile Nessus; Pallas sesquiquadrate Uranus. Neptune sextile Pluto and trine Eris; Pluto opposite Chariklo.
Summary and references
Meanings supplied so far include: teasing and temptation, elusive desires, lack of fulfilment, excessive hunger or thirst, unforgivable actions[1]; an intense want that is just out of reach[2]; testing others or being tested, failures of gratitude, issues with generosity or appropriate giving[3]. May also represent the power of desire or need to foster learning, development and the pursuit of excellence, or high aims that are difficult to achieve in present circumstances.
References:
1) Alex Miller: Tantalus 2102
2) Kirsti Melto: New Moon in Taurus – April 21, 2012
3) Martha Lang-Wescott: Basic Resources
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| Discovery chart for (2102) Tantalus: 27th December 1975, 07:08 UTC, Palomar Mountain, CA. |