653 Berenike is a

main-belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

discovered on 27 November 1907 by

Joel Hastings Metcalf Joel Hastings Metcalf (January 4, 1866 – February 23, 1925) was an American astronomer, humanitarian and Minister (Christianity), minister. Reverend Metcalf graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1892. He served as a Unitarianism, Unitarian ...

Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount ...

. It is named after Berenice II of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, after whom the constellation

Coma Berenices Coma Berenices is an ancient asterism in the northern sky, which has been defined as one of the 88 modern constellations. It is in the direction of the fourth galactic quadrant, between Leo and Boötes, and it is visible in both hemisphere ...

is also named. The name may have been inspired by the asteroid's provisional designation ''1907 BK''. Berenike is a member of the dynamic

Eos family The Eos family (''adj. Eoan'' ; ) is a very large asteroid family located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. The family of K-type asteroids is believed to have formed as a result of an ancient catastrophic collision. The family's parent body ...

of asteroids that most likely formed as the result of a collisional breakup of a parent body.

References

External links

* * Eos asteroids

Berenike Berenice ( grc, Βερενίκη, ''Bereníkē'') is the ancient Macedonian language, Ancient Macedonian form of the Attic Greek name ''Pherenikē'', which means "bearer of victory" . Berenika, priestess of Demeter in Lete (Mygdonia), Lete ca. 350 ...

S-type asteroids (Tholen) K-type asteroids (SMASS) 19071127 {{beltasteroid-stub