Galatea is asteroid #74 and of the type C. Galatea’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 2.78 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.24, a period of revolution of 1 691 days, and an inclination of 4.1 degrees. Galatea was third asteroid discovery (out of five) of the German astronomer Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel at the Marseilles Observatory, where he worked because he couldn’t work in Germany because there he only was an amateur astronomer with no formal education in astronomy.

Galatea also is the name of a crater (1.4 km in diameter, coordinates: 10.2°S, 183.1°W) on the asteroid #433, better known as Eros, and of a moon of the planet Neptune. The latter was found by a Stephen P. Synnott on a photographic image made by the space probe Voyager 2. This Galetea also has the designation S/1989 N 4. Galatea is the fourth-innermost and fifth-largest of the natural satellites of Neptune. Galatea can be referred to as Neptune VI. Galatea has an irregular shape, 204 km × 184 km × 144 km in size, and probably is a shepherd moon of the Neptune rings and itself a rubble pile and only for this reason not destroyed yet by the gravity of Neptune. The average surface temperature of Galatea is estimated to be 51 K or -222°C and her axis probably isn’t inclined. Galatea orbits Neptune prograde, but faster then Neptune rotates.

Three eponymous characters are possible for the name Galatea. All three are from Greek mythology, hence the name in each case originally is Galateía (Γαλατεία) and means “the [female] white (like milk)”. Neptune VI is named after a Galateía (Γαλατεία), who is a nymph and Nereid, one of the fifty daughters of Dōrís (Δωρίς), after whom the asteroid Doris is named, and Nēreús (Νηρεύς). This Galateía (Γαλατεία) is the wife of the cyclops Polýphēmos (Πολύφημος). But she also had a lover, whose name was Ákis (Ἄκις). Polýphēmos (Πολύφημος) as soon as he figured this out took a big rock and slew Ákis (Ἄκις) with it. Then Galateía (Γαλατεία) turned the stream of his blood into a river, that became famous for its cold temperature. Polýphēmos (Πολύφημος) is the same cyclops, that was blinded by Odysseus. The Nereid was identified with bow waves, so the Ancient Greek often chose Galateía (Γαλατεία) as their figureheads. Many fountains are decorated with Galateía (Γαλατεία), too.

All craters on the asteroid Eros are named after famous lovers, most of them fictional. The crater Galatea is named after a statue, which was made by a Cypriot artist named Pugmalíōn (Πυγμαλίων) and brought to life by the goddess Aphrodite after the artist fell in love with his statue. She was carved out of ivory and hence white in color, but the name Galatea was only posterior to antiquity given to it albeit for this reason. After this Galatea is the Galatea Effect named. This term denotes the positive influence of an employer on his employees if he shows them that he thinks that they are capable employees, who do their work well. In the case of a teacher, who has a positive effect on students by encouraging them in a similar way, this effect is called the Pygmalion Effect. If a discouraging behavior of a boss or a teacher results in a negative influence on employees or students, then this in both cases is called the Golem Effect.

The third Galateía (Γαλατεία) has a father, who is named Eurytios, and a husband, who is named Lampros (Λάμπρος). The latter told his wife, Galateía (Γαλατεία), when she was pregnant, that he only wants a son and if the child should be a girl, then the girl should be abandoned. Galateía (Γαλατεία) gave birth to a girl, but gave her the male name Leúkippos (Λεύκιππος) and pretended that the girl would be a boy. This worked until Leúkippos (Λεύκιππος) reached puberty. Galateía (Γαλατεία) asked the goddesses and gods to turn Leúkippos (Λεύκιππος) into a real boy. The goddess Lētṓ (Λητώ), after whom the asteroid Leto is named, understood her pain, so showed mercy and turned Leúkippos (Λεύκιππος) into a real boy.

After whom of the three characters from Greek mythology the asteroid #74 got named is unclear. Neptune VI is named after the most famous of the three of them, so asteroid #74 could be named after the same mythological character. On the other hand three objects in space are named Galatea, two of them are undoubtedly named after two different mythological characters and only the source of the name of the third object is unclear. So giving the third object the name of the third mythological character would be consistent. According to the writer Athḗnaios Naukrátios (Ἀθήναιος Ναυκράτιος) had Galatea also been the name of a daughter of the Tyrant Dionysos of Syracuse, Sicily. A poet, whose name was Philoxenos, was a friend and booze buddy of the tyrant. But when Philoxenos fell in love with Galatea, then her father had Philoxenos labour in the quarry. This story shall by the role model of Galateía (Γαλατεία) and the cyclops and this shall be the role model of Beauty and the Beast, which hasn’t a modern author, but is a traditional French fairy tale.

All women, who are named Galateía (Γαλατεία) in these tales, have in common that they aren’t doing anything, which would be unusual for any woman. With the exception, that one of them was carved out of ivory, they also experience nothing uncommon. So there isn’t left much more than the name itself for deriving the meaning of the asteroid Galatea. This name inspired already the Ancient Greek to attach figureheads to their ships. So Galatea represents a woman leading in a chosen direction or on a chosen course.