Basics
Class: S-type asteroid
Location: Main belt
Orbit length (approx): 4.18 years
Discovered: 23rd July 1908, 23:03 UTC, from Heidelberg, Germany, by August Kopff
Notes: Approximately 29km diameter, in the middle region of the main belt.
Events at time of discovery:
- July 23 – The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) issues a formal ultimatum to Sultan Abdul Hamid II, to restore the constitution of 1876 within the Ottoman Empire; it is restored the following day.
- – Birth of Karl Swenson, American actor
- July 24 – Italian Dorando Pietri wins the Olympic marathon (run from Windsor Castle to London) in one of the most dramatic arrivals in Olympic history, only to be disqualified soon afterwards for receiving assistance; victory is awarded to Irish-American Johnny Hayes.
Naming information
Name origin: Desdemona, character in Shakespeare’s Othello. The name may have been inspired by the asteroid’s provisional designation, containing the letters “DM”. Desdemona is the faithful wife of Othello whose reputation is muddied by the villain Iago; he successfully convinces her husband she is having an affair. Othello kills her, and then himself on learning she is innocent.
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| Othello and Desdemona (c. 1780), from William Blake’s Illustrations to Shakespeare. Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. |
Astrological data
Discovery degree: 27+ Aquarius
Discovery Sabian: A Tree Felled and Sawed to Ensure a Supply of Wood For the Winter
Discovery nodal signature: Libra–Gemini
Estimated orbital resonances: Ceres 10:9, Jupiter 17:6, Saturn 7:1, Uranus 20:1
Discovery chart details: Last quarter phase with stellia in Cancer and Leo. Retrograde Venus conjunct and Jupiter semi-square North Node. Sun sextile Pallas; Mercury square and Mars trine Saturn-Sedna. Mars semi-square Pluto and sesquiquadrate Chariklo-Eris (with Pluto squaring them). Jupiter sextile Pholus; Uranus opposite Neptune and sesquiquadrate Asbolus; Ceres square Neptune. Vesta sesquiquadrate Juno; Nessus conjunct Eris.
Summary and references
Interpretations offered include sadness, victimisation or the sense thereof[1]; family conflict, inherited relationship patterns or anxiety around them, false accusations[2]. We might add: powerful emotion, love, strategic thinking and forward planning, or feeling a lack of belonging.
References:
1) Mark Andrew Holmes: Desdemona
2) Neptune’s Aura Astrology: Asteroid 666 Desdemona
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| Discovery chart for (666) Desdemona: 23rd July 1908, 23:03 UTC, Heidelberg, Germany. The asteroid is not depicted. |