# 678 Fredegundis
**678 Fredegundis** is a large main-belt asteroid discovered on 22 January 1909 by the German astronomer W. Lorenz at [Heidelberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/heidelberg), and named after an unfinished opera by the French composer Ernest Guiraud that [Camille Saint-Saëns](https://www.edgepedia.org/camille-saint-saens) (1835-1921) completed[1](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/32939/1/Lutz%20D.%20Schmadel.pdf). Its provisional designation, assigned at discovery, was 1909 FS[2](https://minorplanetobserver.com/pdolc/A678_2008.HTM).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Discovery | 22 January 1909, by W. Lorenz at Heidelberg[1](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/32939/1/Lutz%20D.%20Schmadel.pdf) |
| Provisional designation | 1909 FS[2](https://minorplanetobserver.com/pdolc/A678_2008.HTM) |
| Name origin | An unfinished opera by Ernest Guiraud, completed by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)[1](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/32939/1/Lutz%20D.%20Schmadel.pdf) |
| Location | Main asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/678-fredegundis-a909-bq) |
| Orbit (from 2MASS associations) | Semimajor axis 2.0145927 au, eccentricity 0.2171689, inclination 6.08049686 degrees[4](https://irsaproxy1.ipac.caltech.edu/data/2MASS/docs/releases/allsky/doc/ancillary/asteroid.tbl.html) |
| Hazard classification | Not classified as potentially hazardous, because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/678-fredegundis-a909-bq) |
| Occultation | A 2020 stellar occultation update lists the asteroid's shadow speed at 11.8490 km/s[5](https://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/200107_678_63832_u.htm) |
## Discovery and naming
Fredegundis was found at the Heidelberg Observatory, a prolific site of early asteroid discovery, on 22 January 1909[1](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/32939/1/Lutz%20D.%20Schmadel.pdf). The same observer, W. Lorenz, had discovered the neighboring numbered asteroid [674 Rachele](https://www.edgepedia.org/674-rachele) at Heidelberg on 28 October 1908[1](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/32939/1/Lutz%20D.%20Schmadel.pdf).
The name honors an opera rather than a person. Ernest Guiraud left the work unfinished, and Camille Saint-Saëns, the French composer of the same era, completed it; the Dictionary of Minor Planet Names records the asteroid as named after this opera[1](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/32939/1/Lutz%20D.%20Schmadel.pdf). The name fits a broader pattern among the asteroids numbered in the 600s and 700s, many of which carry names drawn from opera and drama, such as [675 Ludmilla](https://www.edgepedia.org/675-ludmilla), named for the title figure of Glinka's opera *Ruslan and Ludmilla*[1](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/32939/1/Lutz%20D.%20Schmadel.pdf).
## Orbit and classification
Fredegundis orbits in the main portion of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and Space Reference describes it as a large asteroid of that region[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/678-fredegundis-a909-bq). The orbital solution accompanying the 2MASS asteroid associations gives a semimajor axis of 2.0145927 au, an eccentricity of 0.2171689, and an inclination of 6.08049686 degrees to the ecliptic[4](https://irsaproxy1.ipac.caltech.edu/data/2MASS/docs/releases/allsky/doc/ancillary/asteroid.tbl.html). A semimajor axis near 2.01 au places it among the inner main-belt objects, and the modest inclination is typical of the belt's background population.
Because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth, JPL has not classified Fredegundis as a potentially hazardous asteroid[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/678-fredegundis-a909-bq).
## Observations
**Infrared photometry.** The Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), a near-infrared survey of the entire sky, measured Fredegundis on several occasions. Its J-band brightness in those measurements ranges from 10.986 to 11.525 magnitudes, a spread consistent with the asteroid's rotation and changing viewing geometry between epochs[4](https://irsaproxy1.ipac.caltech.edu/data/2MASS/docs/releases/allsky/doc/ancillary/asteroid.tbl.html).
**Lightcurve and spectra.** Palmer Divide Observatory obtained a rotation lightcurve of Fredegundis in 2008, under its provisional designation 1909 FS[2](https://minorplanetobserver.com/pdolc/A678_2008.HTM). Spectra of the asteroid were presented at the 43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in 2012, from observations made in 2008 and 2011[6](https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2012/pdf/1228.pdf), and the asteroid appears among the targets in a 2022 [Astronomy & Astrophysics](https://www.edgepedia.org/astronomy-and-astrophysics) study of asteroid spectra[7](https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2022/07/aa42784-21.pdf).
**Stellar occultation.** The Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand's Occultation Section published an update on a predicted occultation of a star by Fredegundis in 2020, listing the approximate speed of the asteroid's shadow across Earth at 11.8490 km/s[5](https://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/200107_678_63832_u.htm). Occultations by asteroids are timed by ground-based observers, and the shadow speed is one of the quantities used to plan and interpret the chords measured from different sites.
## References
1. [Lutz D. Schmadel, Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, 5th edition (entries for 674 Rachele and 678 Fredegundis)](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/32939/1/Lutz%20D.%20Schmadel.pdf)
2. [Palmer Divide Observatory Lightcurve 678 Fredegundis (2008), Minor Planet Observer](https://minorplanetobserver.com/pdolc/A678_2008.HTM)
3. [Asteroid Fredegundis, Space Reference](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/678-fredegundis-a909-bq)
4. [2MASS All-Sky Data Release PSC Asteroid Associations, IPAC/Caltech](https://irsaproxy1.ipac.caltech.edu/data/2MASS/docs/releases/allsky/doc/ancillary/asteroid.tbl.html)
5. [RASNZ Occultation Section, Fredegundis Occultation Update](https://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/200107_678_63832_u.htm)
6. [43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference abstract (2012), 2008 and 2011 spectra of 678 Fredegundis](https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2012/pdf/1228.pdf)
7. [A&A 663, A146 (2022), asteroid spectral study listing (678) Fredegundis](https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2022/07/aa42784-21.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Extraterrestrial places › Small bodies of the Solar System › Main-belt asteroids and numbered minor planets › Outer-belt asteroids › Asteroids named for literary and allegorical figures*
*Initially written Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license