[1] For 50 years Ceres was actually classified as the 8th planet until the rest of the asteroids started to be discovered in 1851. Ceres's discovery was just the beginning of a landslide of small bodies spotted between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres was initially classified as a planet and later classified as an asteroid as more objects were found in the same region. Ceres was the first object discovered in the main asteroid belt and is named for the Roman goddess of agriculture. Discovered in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi, Ceres was the first and largest of the asteroids found. by Donald Teets and Karen Whitehead. Ceres was the first object discovered in the asteroid belt in 1801 by Father Giuseppe Piazzi. Ceres, dwarf planet, the largest asteroid in the main asteroid belt, and the first asteroid to be discovered. Ceres, a minor planet orbiting the sun between the planets Mars and Jupiter, was discovered on New Year’s Day in 1801 by Giuesppe Piazzi, a Sicilian astronomer. (Spacecraft are now on their way to both dwarf planets: Dawn to orbit Ceres 214 years after its discovery and the wonderful New Horizons mission to fly past Pluto 85 years after it … The discovery came at a time when rival astronomers were in hot competition with each other, and when the true nature of these celestial bodies was not yet known. The Gauss-Ceres orbit problem was brought to his attention by a historical note regarding the method of least squares in a calculus text. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. First classified as a planet, after the discovery of other objects in the vicinity, it was listed as the largest asteroid in the belt. Ceres / ˈ s ɪər iː z / (minor-planet designation: 1 Ceres) is the largest object in the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.With a diameter of 940 km (580 mi), Ceres is both the largest of the asteroids and the only unambiguous dwarf planet currently inside Neptune's orbit. Ceres was the first body to be discovered that met the criteria established by the IAU, and Pluto was the second. Astrology on the Web discusses the meaning of Ceres, the Great Mother. Her influence has brought a resurgence of interest in the Divine Feminine. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Discovery of the First Asteroid, Ceres: Historical Studies in Asteroid Research. The author, who has a PhD in the History of Astronomy, is a dedicated scholar of the story of asteroids and his research on the discovery of Ceres is comprehensive and fully sourced. Ceres was named after the ancient Roman grain goddess and the patron goddess of Sicily. It revolves around the Sun once in 4.61 Earth years at a mean distance of 2.77 astronomical units. Award: Carl B. Allendoerfer.