Gemini discovery

Minor planets discovered in Gemini.

Oracle of Delphi: King Aigeus in front of the Pythia. Attic red-figure kylix from Vulci (Italy), 440-430 BCE, Kodros Painter; held at Altes Museum, Berlin.
Asteroids, Focus On, Gemini discovery, Main belt objects

Focus On: (432) Pythia

The Pythia was the high priestess and oracle of the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Established by the 8th century BCE (though some sources date the shrine’s beginnings around 600 years farther back), the Pythia became pre-eminent by the 7th century BCE. Widely respected, the priestess continued to be consulted until the late 4th century CE.

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Digitally enhanced bas-relief marble sculpture of Aeolus blowing wind.
Aeolia family, Asteroids, Focus On, Gemini discovery, Main belt objects

Focus On: (396) Aeolia

Aiolos was the divine keeper of the winds and king of the mythical, floating island of Aiolia (Aeolia). He kept the violent Storm-Winds locked safely away inside the cavernous interior of his isle, releasing them only at the command of greatest gods to wreak devastation upon the world.

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Detail of Yrsa, illustration (1865) by August Malmström.
Asteroids, Focus On, Gemini discovery, Main belt objects

Focus On: (351) Yrsa

Yrsa is the wife of Swedish king Aðils and mother of Danish king Hrólfr Kraki. There are several different versions of her story; in each she is depicted as a charming girl. Her father Halga kidnapped her mother Oluf against her will and got her pregnant. She named the child Yrsa after her dog, and sent her to live as a shepherd until she was 12.

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Tristan and Isolde (1912) by John Duncan. In this meticulously detailed Celtic-style work, the mythical lovers face one another while on a boat, with waves splashing in the background. Iseult is holding a bowl (presumably containing the love potion) and Tristan's hands support hers.
Asteroids, Focus On, Gemini discovery, Main belt objects

Focus On: (211) Isolda

‘Possibly’ named for the Irish princess Iseult in Celtic myth, though some other characters bear that name. Iseult is to marry Tristan’s uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, and on the voyage there Tristan and Iseult accidentally drink a love potion meant for the engaged couple, and fall hopelessly in love.

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Detail of statue of Klytaemnestra from the early to mid 19th century, in Wrest Park, Bedfordshire, U.K. Artist unknown.
Asteroids, Focus On, Gemini discovery, Main belt objects, Outer main belt objects, Telramund family

Focus On: (179) Klytaemnestra

Name origin: Greek princess, daughter of Leda and Tyndareus, half-sister of Helen. Helen married Menelaos of Sparta, and Klytaemnestra married his brother Agamemnon; both became involved in the ten-year Trojan War. After Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia on the orders of a priest, Klytaemnestra vowed revenge and took his cousin Aegisthus as a lover. When he returned, the pair murdered him and his slave Kassandra. Eventually they were both killed in retaliation by Klytaemnestra’s son Orestes.

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