Minor Planet 13 Egeria discovered by Annibale de Gasparis

It Happened on
November 02, 1850

In Roman and Greek mythology, Egeria was a nymph attributed a legendary role in the early history of Rome as a divine consort and counselor of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, to whom she imparted laws and rituals pertaining to ancient Roman religion. Her name is used as an eponym for a female advisor or counselor. Egeria, Etheria, or Ætheria was a Western European Christian woman, widely regarded to be the author of a detailed account of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land about 381/2–386. The long letter, dubbed Peregrinatio or Itinerarium Egeriae, is addressed to a circle of women at home. Historical details it contains set the journey in the early 380s, making it the earliest of its kind. It survives in fragmentary form in a later copy—lacking a title, date and attribution.


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Annibale de Gasparis

Italian astronomer, known for discovering asteroids and his contributions to theoretical astronomy