Thule is asteroid #279 and also known as A888 UA. Thule is of the type D. Thule is the first known asteroid in a 4:3 orbital resonance with planet Jupiter, so this orbit group is the Thule Group. Thule’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 4.28 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.01, a period of revolution of 3 229 days, and an inclination of 2.3 degrees. Thule was discovered by the Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa in Vienna.

Thule is named after the ultimate northern land of Thule. The Greek geographer, explorer, and astronomer Pytheas (Πυθέας) from the Greek colony of Massalia in roughly 325 B.C. to 320 B.C. traveled the Atlantic coasts of western and northwestern, perhaps also northern Europe. His travel reports got lost, but were famous enough in Antiquity for being quoted often. Subsequent authors alleged each other of having misunderstood the original text and giving wrong distances. Pytheas (Πυθέας) called Thule the most northern island and probably described its position as six days of travel by ship north from Britain. Several islands are in modern times suspected to be this Thule. It perhaps is Iceland, it perhaps is a small island north of and belonging to Norway. Considering the time of the journey, ships stayed close to the coast and some historians claim that the travel included or consisted mainly of trips over land, for example traveling centrally through Britain and not sailing around it. Staying close to coasts makes Iceland an unlikely candidate. Thule was for some centuries also believed to be a fictional island and some mythology evolved around it, mainly ideas from antisemitic groups in the 20th century. This last part is irrelevant at least for astrological interpretations because the asteroid Thule got its name many years beforehand. Thule represents icy islands and northernmost points.