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 |
---|---|---|---|
158092 Frasercain | 2000 WM68 | Fraser Cain (born 1971), Canadian engineer, book and magazine author, YouTuber and astronomy popularizer, and publisher of Universe Today | JPL · 158092 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
158222 Manicolas | 2001 SP169 | Marie-Annick Nicolas (born 1956), Swiss violinist, born in Le Creusot, France, location of the Le Creusot Observatory ( 504 ) where this minor planet was discovered | JPL · 158222 |
158241 Yutonagatomo | 2001 TF14 | Yuto Nagatomo (born 1986), Japanese football player for the J-League's Tokyo Football Club | JPL · 158241 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
158329 Stevekent | 2001 VJ127 | Stephen Kent (born 1952), American astronomer with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey who studies the structure of galaxies and clusters | JPL · 158329 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
158472 Tiffanyfinley | 2002 CC274 | Tiffany J. Finley (born 1976) is a principal engineer at the Southwest Research Institute. She served as the Science Operations Center Manager for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto. | JPL · 158472 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
158520 Ricardoferreira | 2002 FR1 | Ricardo Ferreira (born 1928), Brazilian physicochemist | JPL · 158520 |
158589 Snodgrass | 2002 MQ4 | Colin Snodgrass (born 1981), British astronomer at the European Southern Observatory | JPL · 158589 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
158623 Perali | 2003 BS4 | Mirella Perali (born 1931), Italian amateur astronomer, author of several biographies of scientists and essays on the interplay between astronomy and classical literature | JPL · 158623 |
158657 Célian | 2003 EF | Célian Hernandez (born 2010), the second son of astronomer Michel Hernandez, one of the discoverers at the Observatory of Saint-Veran in France | JPL · 158657 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
158899 Malloryvale | 2004 QO | Mallory Vale (born 1986), observer at the Table Mountain Observatory in California who made astrometric measurements of near-Earth objects and comets | JPL · 158899 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
158913 Kreider | 2004 RC25 | Christian Kreider (born 1957), French amateur astronomer | JPL · 158913 |