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 |
---|---|---|---|
150035 Williamson | 2005 WO | Bruce Williamson (born 1953), American senior technician and precision machinist at the NASA Table Mountain Facility | JPL · 150035 |
150046 Cynthiaconrad | 2005 XK107 | Cynthia A. Conrad (born 1972) is a Senior Specialist at Southwest Research Institute. She served as the Pluto Encounter Logistics Lead for the New Horizons mission to Pluto. | JPL · 150046 |
150081 Steindl | 2006 UH109 | Imre Steindl (1839–1902) was a Hungarian architect, full professor of the Budapest University of Technology, and a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His most famous work, the Hungarian Parliament Building, is regarded by many as a symbol of the capital city. | JPL · 150081 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
150118 Petersberg | 1993 SZ2 | The Petersberg is a 250-m hill near of Halle (Saale), Germany. On the hill is an Abbey with its church St. Peter, formerly an Augustinian monastery. Since 1999 it has been an evangelical monastic community. The church served as a burial-place for members of the House Wettin, one of the oldest dynasties of German nobility. | JPL · 150118 |
150129 Besshi | 1994 VK7 | Besshi copper mine (Besshi Dōzan), one of the richest copper mines in Japan | JPL · 150129 |
150145 Uvic | 1996 BH1 | The University of Victoria ("UVic"), British Columbia, Canada, home to the Climenhaga Observatory ( 657 ), where this minor planet was discovered | JPL · 150145 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
150316 Ivaniosifovich | 1999 VO1 | Ivan Iosifovich Ipatov (1927–2015), father of the second discoverer, Sergei I. Ipatov, was one of the founders of the geodetical network of Russia. | IAU · 150316 |
150374 Jasoncook | 2000 CW109 | Jason C. Cook (born 1977), an American scientist at the Southwest Research Institute who worked on the composition team for the New Horizons mission to Pluto. | JPL · 150374 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
150520 Dong | 2000 RF107 | Feng Dong (born 1979), Chinese-American astronomer with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey | JPL · 150520 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
There are no named minor planets in this number range |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
There are no named minor planets in this number range |