1 Ceres

1 Ceres

Orbital characteristics
Orbit type	Main belt
Semimajor axis	2.767 AU
Eccentricity	0.0789
Orbital period	4.60 Years
Inclination	10.58°
Physical characteristics
Diameter	940-1,003 km
Mass	8.7×1020 kg
Density	2.7 g/cm3
Rotation period[?]	9h 4m
Spectral class	C[?]
Albedo	0.073
History
Discoverer	G. Piazzi, 1801

1 Ceres (asteroid 1 -- See-reez) is the largest asteroid, and also the first to be discovered, with a diameter of 1003 km, and a surface area of 1,800,000 km². Discovered on January 1, 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi, and originally named Ceres Ferdinandea after the Classical Greek and Sicilian goddess of plants and motherly love and King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily (The Ferdinandea part was dropped for political reasons).

With a mass of 8.7×10²⁰kg, Ceres comprises over one-third the 2.3×10²¹ kg estimated total mass of all the asteroids.