196 Philomela is a large and bright main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on May 14, 1879, in Clinton, New York. The asteroid is named after Philomela, the woman who became a nightingale in Greek mythology.
This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of with a low eccentricity of 0.018 and an orbital period of 5.50 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 7.26° to the plane of the ecliptic. This is a stony S-type asteroid with a diameter of approximately 145 km. It is spinning with a rotation period of 8.334 hours.
To date there have been two reported Philomelian stellar occultations.
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