Basics
Class: SG-type asteroid
Location: Near Earth, Apollo group
Orbit length (approx): 3.17 years
Discovered: 27th September 1978, 21:25 UTC, from the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchnij, Crimea, Ukraine, by Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh
Notes: Largest member of the Hephaistos asteroid group. It makes close approaches to all of the inner planets and will pass 0.048 AU (7.2 million km) from Mercury in 2032.
Events at time of discovery:
- September 27 – One of the last surviving Estonian members of the Forest Brothers, a group of citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who resisted and fought against the Soviet occupation of their three nations, August Sabbe, is discovered after hiding for more than 30 years. He drowned rather than be arrested.
- – Birth of Ani Lorak, Ukrainian singer
- September 28 – Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days of papacy.
- – Birth of Dane Boedigheimer, American Internet personality
- – Birth of Pastora Soler, Spanish singer
Naming information
Name origin: Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes.
Mythology: Son of Hera, possibly also of Zeus; disabled at birth and rejected by his mother, he was raised by Thetis and Eurynome. He became renowned for his skill at craftsmanship; several of his myths involve his works for gods and mortals, including creating Pandora, the first human woman. He was married to Aphrodite, who famously cheated on him with Ares.
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| The Doric Temple of Hephaestus, at the Agora of Athens, Greece. Photo by LBM1948. |
Astrological data
Discovery degree: 2+ Aries
Discovery Sabian: The Cameo Profile of a Man, Suggesting the Shape of His Country
Discovery nodal signature: Taurus–Libra
Estimated orbital resonances: Earth 5:16, Mars 2:3, Ceres 13:9, Jupiter 15:4, Chiron 16:1
Discovery chart details: Last quarter phase. Hephaistos was opposite Mercury, with both tightly on the MC-IC axis. Juno descending. Stellia in Libra and Scorpio. Fire grand trine between Moon, Pallas and Eris. Moon square Uranus and semi-sextile Nessus; Sun sextile Jupiter. Venus semi-sextile Pallas-Neptune and Pluto; Mars opposite Sedna and sesquiquadrate Pholus. Uranus quincunx Eris and trine Nessus; Vesta sesquiquadrate Chiron; Nessus square Eris.
Summary and references
Some offered interpretations include skill, craft and artistry; physical disability; rejection or abandonment; mismatched relationships[1]; creativity[2] and the wounded creator archetype; art that extends from and to the soul, or that is driven by the deeper self[3].
References:
1) Alex Miller: Hephaistos 2212
2) Kirsti Melto: New Moon in Aries – March 22, 2012
3) Linda Goodman forum post: Hephaestus as Psychological Archetype (unattributed quote)
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| Discovery chart for (2212) Hephaistos: 27th September 1978, 21:25 UTC, Nauchnij, Ukraine. |