Harmonia is asteroid #40 and was discovered by the German-French astronomer Hermann Mayer Salomon Goldschmidt in 1856. Hence this asteroid must be quite large. Satellites orbiting it were suspected, but this theory has already repeatedly proven to be wrong. Harmonia is also known as 1950 XU. Harmonia’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 2.267 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.047, a period of revolution of 1 247 days, and an inclination of 4.3 degrees.

Harmonia is named after the Greek goddess of harmony. The name was chosen to mark the end of the Crimean War. The Greek goddess Harmonia (Ἁρμονία) is the daughter of Aphrodite and of Ares. She became the wife of Kádmos (Κάδμος), king of Thebes, and the mother of Polýdōros (Πολύδωρος), Inṓ ( Ἰνώ), Autonóē (Αὐτονόη), Semélē (Σεμέλη), who became the mother of Dionysos (Διόνυσος), Illyrios ( Ἰλλυριός), and Agaúē (Ἀγαύη). But there are several regional variants about Harmonia’s family, relatives, and life.

So Harmonia then represents harmony. This can in concrete cases mean the end of a war. Harmonia (Ἁρμονία) is the Greek counterpart to the Roman Concordia.