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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There are no named minor planets in this number range |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
151242 Hajós | 2002 AH11 | Alfréd Hajós (1878–1955), Hungarian swimmer and architect | JPL · 151242 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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151349 Stanleycooper | 2002 CW270 | Stanley B. Cooper (born 1944), of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, served as the lead engineer for the spacecraft time-keeping system for the New Horizons mission to Pluto. | JPL · 151349 |
151351 Dalleore | 2002 CS282 | Cristina M. Dalle Ore (born 1958) is a senior scientist at the SETI Institute, who served as a composition science team member for the New Horizons mission to Pluto. | JPL · 151351 |
151362 Chenkegong | 2002 CP313 | Chen Kegong (1922–2002), grandfather of Chinese astronomer Ye Quan-Zhi, who discovered this minor planet | JPL · 151362 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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151430 Nemunas | 2002 FC14 | Nemunas River, the largest river in Lithuania | JPL · 151430 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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151590 Fan | 2002 UR58 | Xiaohui Fan (born 1971), Chinese-American astronomer with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey who studies of the most distant quasars | JPL · 151590 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
151657 Finkbeiner | 2002 XV115 | Douglas Finkbeiner (born 1971), American astrophysicist with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey | JPL · 151657 |
151659 Egerszegi | 2002 YF3 | Krisztina Egerszegi (born 1974), Hungarian swimmer | JPL · 151659 |
151697 Paolobattaini | 2003 AF84 | Paolo Battaini (1955–2013), Italian amateur astronomer at the Schiaparelli Observatory ( 204 ) in Varese and popularizer on the legacy of Giovanni Schiaparelli and of the exploration of Mars. | JPL · 151697 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
151834 Mongkut | 2003 FB122 | King Mongkut (or Rama IV, 1804–1868) was the monarch of Siam from 1851 to 1868. He embraced Western innovations and initiated the modernization of Siam, both in technology and culture, earning him the nickname "The Father of Science and Technology". | MPC · 151834 |
151835 Christinarichey | 2003 FC122 | Christina Rae Richey (born 1982) is a discipline scientist for the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters. She has championed the cause of minorities in science and has investigated properties of ices, silicate and carbonaceous materials | JPL · 151835 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
151997 Bauhinia | 2004 JL1 | Bauhinia blakeana (the Hong Kong orchid tree), the Hong Kong City Flower | JPL · 151997 |