126 Velleda is a main-belt asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

. It is probably a rather typical, albeit sizable, S-type asteroid

S-type asteroid

S-type asteroids are of a stony composition, hence the name. Approximately 17% of asteroids are of this type, making it the second most common after the C-type.-Characteristics:...

. Named for Veleda

Veleda

Veleda was a völva of the Germanic tribe of the Bructeri who achieved some prominence during the Batavian rebellion of AD 69–70, headed by the Romanized Batavian chieftain Gaius Julius Civilis, when she correctly predicted the initial successes of the rebels against Roman...

, a priestess and prophet

Prophet

In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...

 of the Germanic tribe of the Bructeri

Bructeri

The Bructeri were a Germanic tribe located in northwestern Germany , between the Lippe and Ems rivers south of the Teutoburg Forest, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia around 100 BC through 350 AD....

. It was discovered by Paul Henry

Paul Henry and Prosper Henry

Paul-Pierre Henry and his brother Mathieu-Prosper Henry were French opticians and astronomers....

 on November 5, 1872, in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It was his first credited discovery. He and his brother Prosper Henry

Paul Henry and Prosper Henry

Paul-Pierre Henry and his brother Mathieu-Prosper Henry were French opticians and astronomers....

discovered a total of 14 asteroids.

This asteroid rotates once every 5 days, 8 hours and 44 minutes. During each rotation the light curve varies by 0.22 magnitudes.