Aeolia (minor planet designation: 396 Aeolia) is a typical main belt asteroid. It was discovered by the French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 1 December 1894 from Nice, and may have been named for the ancient land of Aeolis. The asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of with a period of and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.16. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 2.5° to the plane of the ecliptic. This is the largest member of the eponymously named Aeolia asteroid family, a small group of asteroids with similar orbits that have an estimated age of less than 100 million years. Analysis of the asteroid light curve based on photometry data collected during 2016 show a rotation period of with a brightness variation of in magnitude. This rules out a previous estimate of 22.2 hours. It is a metallic Xe type asteroid in the SMASS classification. References External links Aeolia asteroids Aeolia Aeolia Xe-type asteroids (SMASS) 18941201