2022-06-15, 12:06 AM
I had to look up the mythological Cacus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacus
I guess the asteroid is named after him. From Wiki:
161989 Cacus (prov. designation: 1978 CA) is a stony asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and a potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 1 kilometer in diameter. It was discovered on 8 February 1978, by German astronomer Hans-Emil Schuster at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile.[2] Its orbit is confined between Venus and Mars.
This minor planet was named from Roman mythology, after Cacus, a fire-breathing monster, which was killed by Hercules.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 24 November 2007 (M.P.C. 61270).[10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacus
I guess the asteroid is named after him. From Wiki:
161989 Cacus (prov. designation: 1978 CA) is a stony asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and a potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 1 kilometer in diameter. It was discovered on 8 February 1978, by German astronomer Hans-Emil Schuster at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile.[2] Its orbit is confined between Venus and Mars.
This minor planet was named from Roman mythology, after Cacus, a fire-breathing monster, which was killed by Hercules.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 24 November 2007 (M.P.C. 61270).[10]