Nemesis is asteroid #128 and mustn’t be confounded with the hypothetical, but already proven as non-existent, companion star of the Sun. The idea of naming a star after an asteroid was absurd already. The asteroid Nemesis is of the type C and the head of an asteroid-family. Nemesis’ orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 2.75 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.13, a period of revolution of 1 665 days, and an inclination of 6.25 degrees. But Nemesis isn’t undisputed as the head of her asteroid-family. Other candidates for this position are Zdeněkhorský (asteroid #3827), Concordia (asteroid #58), and (possibly only formerly) Liberatrix (asteroid #125). Nemesis is the main candidate because of her size. She is currently believed to be the 33rd-largest Main Belt Asteroid and to measure 188 km in diameter. She is also believed to be a slow-rotator, needing seventy-eight hours (although this only from the English part of the Wikipedia, while other parts give a shorter or no period, but it is the most recently updated part too) to complete a rotation. Nemesis was discovered by the American astronomer James Craig Watson in 1872.

Nemesis is named after Némesis (Νέμεσις), the goddess of retribution from Greek mythology. She was also called Rhamnusia ( Ῥαμνουσία). Némesis (Νέμεσις) is a daughter of Nyx, but there are also many other variants explaining her lineage. There are also different ideas about who are her children. She is depicted with many different attributes and different features, usually winged. The name Némesis (Νέμεσις) is derived from némein (νέμειν) meaning to give what is due. Némesis (Νέμεσις) originally meant the distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, simply in due proportion to each according to what was deserved. Thus the human nature forced her to evolve to an avenger of crime, especially crimes committed to the gods. Human hubris is the main crime in this category. So Némesis (Νέμεσις) became one of the deities of justice, which was unthinkable without retribution in antiquity. The circumstance that no human being is able to escape the goddess of retribution changed her meaning in the pop culture during the 20th century. She became a popular name for archenemies and a symbol for doom. But this can’t have been relevant when the asteroid #128 got discovered in 1872.

I had already wondered who is that archenemy represented by my natal Nemesis, while enemies should be found in the seventh astrological house. Nemesis doesn’t show an archenemy, but a fair share. Nemesis is an opposing force to Hybris. Nemesis hints to an intolerance on criminal acts or criminal attitudes. This explains why my natal Nemesis forms a conjunction with my natal Eris. Strife calls for retribution in such astrological charts.