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 |
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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 |
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242479 Marijampole | 2004 TF115 | Marijampole, with a population of 45 000, is the largest city in the Suvalkija region of south-west Lithuania. | JPL · 242479 |
242492 Fantomas | 2004 VU65 | Fantomas is one of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction. Fantomas was created in 1911 by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre. | JPL · 242492 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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242516 Lindseystirling | 2005 AW | Lindsey Stirling (born 1986), an American violinist, dancer and composer | JPL · 242516 |
242523 Kreszgéza | 2005 AJ10 | Géza Kresz (1846–1901), a Hungarian physician | JPL · 242523 |
242529 Hilaomar | 2005 AL54 | Hila Omar, a Moroccan amateur astronomer and promoter of science. He has constructed an observatory with a 60-cm telescope in a cultural center south of the city of Marrakech. | JPL · 242529 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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242648 Fribourg | 2005 NQ63 | The Swiss canton and city of Fribourg, a young, dynamic and bilingual region near the country's capital, Bern | JPL · 242648 |
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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242830 Richardwessling | 2006 DK8 | Richard J. Wessling (born 1935) worked at U.S. Precision Lens for 35 years, making telescope mirrors from the early 1960s onwards and opening the Pines Optical Shop in 1991. | JPL · 242830 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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243000 Katysirles | 2006 TB112 | Katherine Ann Sirles (1980–2016) was a sociologist and beloved teacher who studied the sociology of drugs, deviant behavior and gender. | JPL · 243000 |