Asteroids

Minor planets in the asteroid class.

Detail of Sappho and Alcaeus (1881), oil painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema.
Asteroids, Focus On, Inner main belt objects, Main belt objects, Sagittarius discovery

Focus On: (80) Sappho

Sappho (c.630-570 BCE) was an ancient Greek lyric poet and musician from the island of Lesbos. Widely regarded as an outstanding writer, she was called the Tenth Muse; sadly, much of her work, in total estimated at around 10,000 lines, has been lost. Her poetry is still influential today.

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Detail of Heimdall returns Brísingamen to Freyja (1846), oil painting by Nils Blommér.
Aries discovery, Asteroids, Cybele group objects, Focus On, Main belt objects, Outer main belt objects

Focus On: (76) Freia

Freyja is a Norse goddess associated with love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, is accompanied by the boar Hildisvíni, and possesses a cloak of falcon feathers. She is a member of the Vanir.

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Marble relief featuring Leto with Zeus and their children, 420-410 BC, held at the Archaeological Museum of Brauron in Greece.
Asteroids, Focus On, Main belt objects, Scorpio discovery

Focus On: (68) Leto

Name origin: Greek goddess of motherhood. Leto was one of the Titanides, a bride of Zeus, and the mother of the twins Artemis and Apollo. Alongside her children, she was a protectress of the young. Her name and iconography suggest she also represented modesty and demure womanhood.

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Detail of an illustration of the Spring of Narcissus from the 13th-century Le Roman de la Rose.
Asteroids, Focus On, Main belt objects, Pisces discovery

Focus On: (60) Echo

Zeus ordered Ekho to protect him when he was dallying with her fellow nymphs. She did this by engaging his wife Hera in chat when about to discover her husband’s infidelity. As punishment, Hera cursed Ekho by only allowing her to repeat another’s words. Afterwards, Ekho fell in love with the mortal Narcissus, who spurned her. He wasted away pining for his own reflection, and she eventually did the same in mourning for him.

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