As minor planet discoveries are confirmed, they are given a permanent number by the IAU's Minor Planet Center (MPC), and the discoverers can then submit names for them, following the IAU's naming conventions. The list below concerns those minor planets in the specified number-range that have received names, and explains the meanings of those names.
Official naming citations of newly named small Solar System bodies are approved and published in a bulletin by IAU's Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN). [1] Before May 2021, citations were published in MPC's Minor Planet Circulars for many decades. [2] Recent citations can also be found on the JPL Small-Body Database (SBDB). [3] Until his death in 2016, German astronomer Lutz D. Schmadel compiled these citations into the Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (DMP) and regularly updated the collection. [4] [5]
Based on Paul Herget's The Names of the Minor Planets , [6] Schmadel also researched the unclear origin of numerous asteroids, most of which had been named prior to World War II. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : SBDB New namings may only be added to this list below after official publication as the preannouncement of names is condemned. [7] The WGSBN publishes a comprehensive guideline for the naming rules of non-cometary small Solar System bodies. [8]
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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57076 Mariocambi | 2001 OY16 | Mario Cambi (b. 1948), an Italian amateur astronomer. | IAU · 57076 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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57140 Gaddi | 2001 PG29 | Riccardo Gaddi, amateur astronomer and popular expositor | JPL · 57140 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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There are no named minor planets in this number range |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
57359 Robcrawford | 2001 RC | Robert W. Crawford, American energy and environmental consultant, amateur astronomer and physicist | JPL · 57359 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
57424 Caelumnoctu | 2001 SP22 | (19)57–4–24, 1957 April 24, is the date of the transmission of the first edition of the BBC television series The Sky at Night (Caelum noctu in Latin) | JPL · 57424 |
57471 Mariemarsina | 2001 SZ115 | Marie Marsina (born 1952) currently serves as the President of the National Art League in New York City and as Vice President of the Douglaston Civic Association. She is a graduate of Pace University's Lubin School of Business. | JPL · 57471 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
57509 Sly | 2001 SY270 | Sylvestre (Sly) Maurice (born 1966), a planetary astronomer specialized in lunar and Martian exploration. He has been a lead-developer of Martian rover instruments. | JPL · 57509 |
57567 Crikey | 2001 TS56 | Steve Irwin (1962–2006), an Australian zookeeper and conservationist, known for his TV-series The Crocodile Hunter. "Crikey!", was his signature phrase. | JPL · 57567 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
57658 Nilrem | 2001 UJ1 | Jean-Claude Merlin (born 1954), French astronomer, founder-president of the Burgundy Astronomical Society (French: Société astronomique de Bourgogne) and discoverer of minor planets. "Nilrem" is "Merlin" backwards, because of pre-existing 2598 Merlin. | MPC · 57658 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
There are no named minor planets in this number range |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
57868 Pupin | 2001 YD | Mihajlo Pupin (1858–1935), a Serbian-American physicist and humanitarian. | JPL · 57868 |
57879 Cesarechiosi | 2002 AD1 | Cesare Chiosi, Italian professor of theoretical astrophysics at the University of Padua | JPL · 57879 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
57901 Hitchens | 2002 CH275 | Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) was a social, religious and literary critic of broad interests, who listed "disputation" among his hobbies | JPL · 57901 |