1108 Demeter
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| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Reinmuth, K. at Heidelberg |
| Discovery date | May 31, 1929 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 1929 KA |
| 1963 MF | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch November 4, 2013 | |
| Aphelion | 3.0499 AU (456.26 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 1.8054 AU (270.08 Gm) |
| 2.4276 AU (363.16 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.25632 |
| 3.78 yr | |
| 83.07766° | |
| Inclination | 24.93008° |
| 234.41746° | |
| 77.70883° | |
| Proper orbital elements | |
|
Proper mean motion
|
0.26057 deg / yr |
|
Proper orbital period
|
1381.58652 yr (504624.477 d) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 25.61 km |
| 9.70 h | |
| Albedo | 0.0464 |
|
Spectral type
|
C |
| 11.91 | |
1108 Demeter is an asteroid from the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Karl Reinmuth in Heidelberg, Germany on May 31, 1929. Its provisional designation was 1929 KA. It was named after the Greek goddess of fruitful soil and agriculture.[2]
Naming conflict with 1 Ceres in Greek
The goddess Demeter is the Greek equivalent of Roman Ceres. When 1 Ceres was named, the Greeks called it Demeter, effectively translating the name into Greek, rather as English uses Anglo-Latin Ceres rather than the original Italian Cerere. However, this created a problem when 1108 Demeter was named. The Greeks resolved this by using the classical form of the name, Δημήτηρ Dēmêtēr, for the new body, distinguishing it from the Modern Greek form Δήμητρα Dêmētra that had been used for 1 Ceres. However, Greek-influenced Slavic languages such as Russian had adopted Latin/Italian Cerera for 1 Ceres, and were thus free to use the classical Greek form Demetra for 1108 Demeter.
