196 Philomela

196 Philomela is a large and bright main belt asteroid. It is an S-type asteroid. Fact|date=March 2008

It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on May 14, 1879 in Clinton, New York and named after Philomela, the woman who became a nightingale in Greek mythology. [ Schmadel Lutz D. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (fifth edition), Springer, 2003. ISBN-10: 3540002383.]

In the late 1990s, a network of astronomers worldwide gathered lightcurve data that was ultimately used to derive the spin states and shape models of 10 new asteroids, including (196) Philomela. [Durech., J.; Kaasalainen, M., Marciniak, A.; et al., “Physical models of ten asteroids from an observers' collaboration network,” Astronomy and Astrophysics , Volume 465, Issue 1, April I 2007, pp. 331-337 ] [ Durech, J.; Kaasalainen, M.; Marciniak, A.; Allen, W. H. et al. “Asteroid brightness and geometry,” Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 465, Issue 1, April I 2007, pp. 331-337.]

To date there have been two reported Philomelian stellar occultations.Fact|date=March 2008

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