Asteroids

Minor planets in the asteroid class.

Nerthus, illustration by Emil Doepler (1905) depicting the procession of the goddess.
Asteroids, Capricorn discovery, Focus On, Main belt objects, Outer main belt objects

Focus On: (601) Nerthus

Germanic goddess associated with water and wagons. Only priests were allowed to touch the cart of Nerthus, which was kept in a sacred grove on an island. When the priest found her to be present by the cart, it was drawn on procession; everywhere it went celebrations took place.

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Archaeological site of Olympia showing the stadium, the temple of Hera and the temple of Zeus. The Alfeios valley is visible in the background.
Asteroids, Central main belt objects, Focus On, Main belt objects, Virgo discovery

Focus On: (582) Olympia

Olympia, officially Archaia Olympia, was a Panhellenic religious sanctuary in ancient Greece, where the early Olympic Games were held from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE, before being restored in 1894. The games were held in the name of Zeus, and drew visitors from the entire Greek world

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A 1760 copperplate engraving of Nassau Hall, the earliest known. Illustration opposite p. 104 of New American Magazine, No. XXVII (March 1760). Creator unknown. The Princeton motto, Dei Sub Numine Viget (Under God's Power She Flourishes) is depicted as a banner above the building. Below is the text: Aula Nassovica.
Asteroids, Focus On, Koronis family, Libra discovery, Main belt objects, Outer main belt objects

Focus On: (534) Nassovia

Named for Nassau Hall, the oldest building at Princeton University. In 1783, when Princeton became the U.S. provincial capital for four months, Nassau Hall served as its seat of government. Congress met in its library on the second floor. The term Old Nassau refers affectionately to the building and serves as a metonym for the university as a whole.

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Detail of Truth Rescued by Time, Witnessed by History, by Francisco Goya (1814).
Asteroids, Focus On, Main belt objects, Outer main belt objects, Pisces discovery, Veritas family

Focus On: (490) Veritas

Veritas is the name given to the Roman virtue of truthfulness, considered one of the main qualities any good Roman should possess, and the Goddess of Truth, daughter of Saturn. The Greek equivalent is Aletheia.

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Asteroids, Central main belt objects, Focus On, Hansa family, Main belt objects, Sagittarius discovery

Focus On: (480) Hansa

Name origin: The Hanseatic League, a northern continental European commercial and defensive confederation of cities. The word ‘hansa’ or ‘hanse’ means ‘convoy’ in Old German, and refers to the merchants travelling between points in the League. While the area was not generally independent, it was influential and had diplomatic privileges. Some of the Gothic architecture remains.

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Detail of a mediaeval manuscript page featuring Prudencia (crowned), at top riding a wagon and then a horse to the celestial Empyrean; at bottom, addressing young women.
Asteroids, Central main belt objects, Focus On, Main belt objects, Virgo discovery

Focus On: (474) Prudentia

Name origin: Roman personification of prudence. Prudentia, whose attributes are a mirror and a snake, is frequently depicted as a pair with Justitia, the Roman goddess of Justice. The word “prudence” derives from the Latin prudentia meaning “foresight, sagacity”.

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The Babylonian mathematical tablet Plimpton 322, dated to 1800 BC. Photo from the University of British Columbia, Canada.
Asteroids, Central main belt objects, Focus On, Libra discovery, Main belt objects

Focus On: (454) Mathesis

Name origin: Learning, or mathematics, from the Greek term, to honour the Mathematische Gesellschaft in Hamburg, Germany, which was founded in 1690 and is the oldest still-active mathematical society in the world, and the second-oldest scientific society in Germany.

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