| In Roman mythology Ceres was an
earth goddess and patron of agriculture, especially fruit and grain.
In astronomy, Ceres is the largest of all the minor planets (asteroids) and is irregular in shape. It was discovered by the Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801 as he searched for planets which were predicted to exist between Mars and Jupiter by Bodes Law. It was in fact the first asteroid ever discovered!ÝÝÝÝ  It
wasn't until much later that the orbit of Ceres around the sun was calculated
by a German mathematician called Karl Friedrich Gauss and was calculated
to be 1.7 years or a little over 1 year, 52 days. The orbit of Ceres also
brings it close enough to Earth for it to be seen by the naked eye. |