169 Zelia is a main belt asteroid that was discovered by the brothers Paul Henry and Prosper Henry on September 28, 1876. Credit for this discovery was given to Prosper.

[3] Initial orbital elements for this asteroid were published in 1877 by American astronomer H. A.

[4] Based upon its spectrum, this body is classified as a rare O-type asteroid in the taxonomic system of Bus & Binzel.

[2] Photometric observations of this asteroid during 2009 gave a light curve with a period of 14.537 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.14 ± 0.03 in magnitude.

[5] It was named for Zelia Martin, a niece of the astronomer Camille Flammarion.