156 Xanthippe is a large dark main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Austrian astronomer J. Palisa on November 22 1875. It is named after Xanthippe the wife of the Greek philosopher Socrates.Photometric observations of this asteroid at the European Southern Observatory in La Silla Chile during 1981 gave a light curve with a period of 22.5 hours. Based upon its spectrum this is classified as a C-type asteroid indicating that it likely has a carbonaceous composition.
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