Basics
Class: BR-type centaur
Location: Saturn-crosser
Orbit length (approx): 34.55 years
Discovered: 9th August 2001, 08:35 UTC, from Palomar Observatory, CA, by the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking Project (NEAT)
Notes: Crosses the orbit of Saturn and in perihelion travels inside of it.
Events at time of discovery:
- August 9 – A Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem is bombed by Hamas, killing 15 civilians and injuring 130 others.
- – Death of Humphry Bowen, 72, British botanist and chemist
- – Death of Alec Skempton, 87, British scientist
Naming information
Name origin: Greek; one of the Centaurs.
Mythology: Thereus was killed at the Lapith wedding by Theseus; he was a bear hunter “who used to take bears on the mountain slopes of Thessaly, and carry them home angry and alive.”
 |
| Screenshot of Thereus’ orbit and position at the time of discovery, courtesy of JPL Small-Body Database. |
Astrological data
Discovery degree: 3+ Pisces
Discovery Sabian: Heavy Car Traffic on a Narrow Isthmus Linking Two Seashore Resorts
Discovery nodal signature: Libra–Taurus
Estimated orbital resonances: Ceres 2:15, Saturn 6:7, Chiron 16:11, Uranus 17:7, Neptune 19:4
Discovery chart details: Disseminating phase chart with Saturn rising, Mars and Pluto descending and Uranus on the MC. Minor T-square between Chiron, Pholus and Neptune. Mercury semi-square and Jupiter conjunct North Node. Moon sextile Saturn and trine Pluto; Sun square Sedna. Venus-Juno sesquiquadrate Uranus, opposite Ceres and sextile Chariklo; Mars quincunx Sedna; Saturn opposite Pluto. Chiron sextile Uranus and semi-square Neptune. Ceres conjunct Nessus.
Summary and references
Interpretations given so far include: separating and balancing the personal and professional, identification with either career, relationships or possessions, mercenary behaviour, working constructively with others, wildness, lawlessness, hunting, nature and environmentalism[1]; “strength, endurance and ability to confront and control anger”, being a ‘badass’[2]; control and domination of rebellion, especially in groups[3]; disrespect for the planet and its creatures, lack of consideration, and the consequences therefrom[4]; “relational and professional attitudes based upon others”, status seeking, susceptibility to glamour, self-promotion or cultivation of one’s image[5]; explosive, raw animal energy, eruptions, potency, creative or physical strength that is difficult to channel appropriately, instincts versus social codes, clashes with authority, rhythm and dancing, survival talent, impetuosity, content above form, animism, religious ecstasy, a magical bond with and advocacy for animals[6].
References:
1) Mark Andrew Holmes: Thereus
2) Kirsti Melto: Full Moon in Leo – February 09, 2020
3) Amable: (32532) Thereus
4) Zane Stein: Thereus
5) Philip Sedgwick: New Dwarf Planets, Eris, Sedna, Centaurs & More
6) Benjamin Adamah: Centaurs, Damocloids & Scattered Disc Objects (VAMzzz Publishing, 2019)
 |
| Discovery chart for (32532) Thereus: 9th August 2001, 08:35 UTC, Palomar Mountain, CA. |