PALES
Pales, asteroid 49 (the 49th asteroid to be discovered, on September 19, 1857), is
approximately 176 kilometers in diameter and has an orbital period of 5.4 years. It is
named after the Roman god of flocks, pastures, and shepherds. When prominent in a
natal chart, Pales may indicate a native with an interest in these matters. More often,
it indicates more of a metaphorical shepherding; someone with a strong Pales may be
involved in some kind of guarding activity, shepherding a congregation, and so on.
Sources:
Kowal, Charles T. Asteroids: Their Nature and Utilization.Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Ellis
Horwood Limited, 1988.
Room, Adrian. Dictionary of Astronomical Names.London: Routledge, 1988.
Schwartz, Jacob. Asteroid Name Encyclopedia.St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1995.
PALLASATHENE
The asteroids are small planet-like bodies that orbit the Sun in a belt that lies mostly
between Mars and Jupiter. They first dawned on human consciousness in the early
1800s. The first four asteroids to be sighted were given the names of four of the great
goddesses of classical antiquity: Ceres (discovered in 1801), Pallas Athene (discovered
in 1802), Juno (discovered in 1804), and Vesta (discovered in 1807).
Many more asteroids were soon discovered, so that by the end of the nine-
teenth century, over 1,000 were known. The first asteroid ephemeris (a table listing
planetary positions) was made available to astrologers in 1973 by Eleanor Bach, and it
covered only the original four. Today astrologers have computer software developed by
Mark Pottenger that tracks the placements of over 9,000 asteroids.
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