271 Penthesilea
Encyclopedia
271 Penthesilea is a large Main belt
asteroid
. It was named after Penthesilea
, the mythical Greek
queen of the Amazons
.
It was discovered by Viktor Knorre
on October 13, 1887 in Berlin
. It was his last asteroid discovery.
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
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 was named after Penthesilea
Penthesilea
Penthesilea or Penthesileia was an Amazonian queen in Greek mythology, the daughter of Ares and Otrera and the sister of Hippolyta, Antiope and Melanippe...
, the mythical Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
queen of the Amazons
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
.
It was discovered by Viktor Knorre
Viktor Knorre
Viktor Knorre was a Russian astronomer of German ethnic origin.-Biography and family background:Viktor Knorre was born into a three-generation astronomer family...
on October 13, 1887 in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. It was his last asteroid discovery.