Daphne (minor planet designation: 41 Daphne) is a large asteroid from the asteroid belt.^[1] It is a dark-surfaced body 174 km in diameter is probably composed of primitive carbonaceous chondrites. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.^[9] It was discovered by H. Goldschmidt on May 22, 1856, and named after Daphne, the nymph in Greek mythology who was turned into a laurel tree. Incorrect orbital calculations initially resulted in 56 Melete being mistaken for a second sighting of Daphne. Daphne was not sighted again until August 31, 1862.^[10]

The orbit of 41 Daphne places it in a 9:22 mean motion resonance with the planet Mars. The computed Lyapunov time for this asteroid is 14,000 years, indicating that it occupies a chaotic orbit that will change randomly over time because of gravitational perturbations of the planets.^[11]

In 1999, Daphne occulted three stars, and on July 2, 1999, produced eleven chords indicating an ellipsoid of 213×160 km.^[5] Daphnean lightcurves also suggest that the asteroid is irregular in shape. Daphne was observed by Arecibo radar in April 2008.^[12][13] Based upon radar data, the near surface solid density of the asteroid is 2.4^+0.7
_−0.5 g cm⁻³.^[14]

41 Daphne has at least one satellite, named Peneius (provisionally S/2008 (41) 1).^[15][16] It was identified on March 28, 2008, and has a projected separation of 443 km, an orbital period of approximately 1.1 days,^[6] and an estimated diameter of less than 2 km. If these preliminary observations hold up, this binary system has the most extreme size ratio known.^[17] In Greek myth, Pēneios is the god of the river of that name, and father of Daphne.