Tergeste is asteroid #478 and also known as 1901 GU. Tergeste is of the type S (Tholen) or the type L (SMASS II). Tergeste’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 3.02 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.09, a period of revolution of 1 911 days, and an inclination of 13.2 degrees. Tergeste was discovered by the Italian astronomer Luigi Carnera at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory, where he was an assistant of the German astronomer Max Wolf.

Tergeste is named after the pre-Roman name of the city Trieste. The asteroid discoverer was born there and also worked for a while at the astronomical observatory in Trieste. The Romans mentioned Tergeste as the city of an Illyrian ally, when they in 177 B.C. were on an expedition against Istria, after which the asteroid Istria is named. Trieste always was an important place for oversea trade because of Trieste’s free access to the Adriatic Sea, after which the asteroid Adria is named. In the following centuries, more and more Romans settled in Trieste and the area also was popular among Roman tourists, though a little less than the Roman city of Aquileia, which also was located at the Gulf of Trieste. When the Roman Empire broke into pieces, Trieste was ruled by different Germanic tribes and so naturally became in 774 A.D. part of the Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne. In 1203 A.D., Venice conquered Trieste, which for the first time in its history shouldn’t have been autonomous, so that quarrels between Venice and Trieste occurred frequently until Trieste in 1382 A.D. voluntarily submitted itself to the Austrian Empire. Trieste with the exception of some short occupations stayed an autonomous city of Austria until 1918 A.D., when Austria lost the First World War. The occupations where from 1508 until 1509 by Venice and then in 1797, from 1805 until 1806, and again from 1809 until 1813 by Napoleon. From 1809 until 1813 had Trieste officially been a part of France. The Congress of Vienna founded the artificial state Kingdom of Illyria and made Trieste a part of it, but this was within the authority of the Austrian Empire. Trieste has always been important for shipping, so in 1829 the first marine propelling screw was tested with a ship built in Trieste. The city was around 1900 very rich and did show this by ostentatious architecture. The later history of Trieste, when it after 1918 became Italian, then Yugoslavian, then independent, and in 1954 again and finally Italian can’t be relevant for naming the asteroid Tergeste. Trieste has always been a melting pot of Roman, Germanic, and Slavic cultures and influences. So Tergeste represents trade ports with a truly international culture.