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Named for the Phrygian goddess often identified with Rhea {see planet  (577)}. (H 10)

The planet was originally named Maximiliana by the Bavarian Ministerialrat K. A. von Steinheil in allusion to Maximilian II, the king of Bavaria. The name was regarded as non-classical and was changed after protest by Herschel, Airy, Argelander and others by the Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch. The discoverer transferred the naming rights to Steinheil “aus Anerkennung für die ausgezeichneten Leistungen seines aus dessen Werkstätte bezogenen Fernrohrs.” (AN 55, 93 (1861))