98 Ianthe is a large main-belt asteroid, named for three figures in Greek mythology.

It was one of the numerous (for his time—the 19th century) discoveries by C. H. F. Peters, who found it on April 18, 1868, from Clinton, New York.

Photometric observations of this asteroid during 2007 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico were used to create a light curve plot.

This showed a synodic rotation period of 16.479±0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.27±0.02 magnitude during each cycle.

[5] It is classified as a C-type asteroid, indicating a dark, carbonaceous surface.