Leto is asteroid #68 and also known as A861 HB. Leto is a stony asteroid and Leto’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 2.78 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.19, a period of revolution of 1 696 days, and an inclination of eight degrees. Leto was discovered by the German astronomer Karl Theodor Robert Luther.

Leto is named after Lētṓ (Λητώ) from Greek mythology. This Lētṓ (Λητώ) is the daughter of the titan goddess Phoibe and the titan Koíos (Κοῖος). Asteria (Ἀστερία) is the name of the (probably younger) sister of Lētṓ (Λητώ). The Romans gave the name Latona to Lētṓ (Λητώ) and adopted her into their own mythology. Lētṓ (Λητώ) and Asteria (Ἀστερία) both were lovers of Zeús (Ζεύς), but consecutively and Lētṓ (Λητώ) was first. Gaía (Γαῖα) had prophesied that the children of Lētṓ (Λητώ) and Zeús (Ζεύς) would become more powerful than Hḗra (Ἥρα), the wife of Zeús (Ζεύς). Gaía (Γαῖα) is the grandmother of both of them and also the goddess, who is the Earth. Hḗra (Ἥρα) doesn’t want that other deities are more powerful than herself, so she sent her monster Pýthōn (Πύθων) to kill the pregnant Lētṓ (Λητώ). Zeús (Ζεύς) stopped Pýthōn (Πύθων), but how is unclear because Pýthōn (Πύθων) appears in later tales and also is the guard of the oracle of Delphi. Hḗra (Ἥρα) then requested from her grandmother, Gaía (Γαῖα), to deny Lētṓ (Λητώ) a place, where she could give birth. Poseidon then created the island of Delos (Δῆλος). A variant of the tale claims that Asteria (Ἀστερία), the sister of Lētṓ (Λητώ), was the only one, who sided with Lētṓ (Λητώ), and so Asteria (Ἀστερία) turned into the island of Delos (Δῆλος). This island was neither attached to the mainland nor to the floor of the ocean, so it wasn’t controlled by Gaía (Γαῖα) and hence Lētṓ (Λητώ) could give birth there. But Hḗra (Ἥρα) exerted pressure on Eileíthyia (Εἰλείθυια), the goddess of birth, so that Lētṓ (Λητώ) couldn’t give birth. Then other deities had mercy with Lētṓ (Λητώ), so bought the Moon from Uranos, the god of the sky, then gave the moon to Hephaistos, who forged a necklace out of the Moon, then they bribed the goddess of birth with this necklace. Lētṓ (Λητώ) finally gave birth to Artemis and then to Apollon. They are twins, but Artemis is the elder sister of Apollon. Artemis and Apollon indeed became very powerful. They learnt about the circumstances of their birth, then they went to all the lands, that did side with Hḗra (Ἥρα) instead of with their mother. There Artemis and Apollon accused, judged, and sentenced these people.

The tale explains why Artemis (Ἄρτεμις) became the waxing Moon after the disappeared Moon was a necessary sacrifice for her birth. The waning Moon Hekate (Ἑκάτη) shall be the daughter of Asteria (Ἀστερία), so that Artemis (Ἄρτεμις) and Hekate (Ἑκάτη) are cousins. The tale of Lētṓ (Λητώ) only explains the relationships between the different deities. The asteroid Leto represents pregnant women and is of relevance, when birth complications have to be expected.