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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181043 Anan | 2005 PV | Anan, a city which located in eastern Shikoku Island, Japan | JPL · 181043 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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181136 Losonczrita | 2005 QA152 | Rita Losoncz (born 1985), the fiancée of Krisztián Vida who participated with many observations in the minor planet survey at the Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary | JPL · 181136 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
181241 Dipasquale | 2005 UD7 | Pietro Di Pasquale (born 1947), a cardiologist at the hospital in Palermo city | JPL · 181241 |
181249 Tkachenko | 2005 UZ158 | Viktor Tkachenko (born 1953), former director of the Kyiv Palace of Sports | JPL · 181249 |
181279 Iapyx | 2006 BF8 | Iapyx from Greek mythology. He was the son of Iasus and favourite of Apollo, the healer of Aeneas during the Trojan War, and mythological founder of Apulia. | JPL · 181279 |
181298 Ladányi | 2006 QY | Tamás Ladányi (born 1972), a Hungarian amateur astronomer and a member of "The World At Night" group. | JPL · 181298 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
181419 Dragonera | 2006 SN218 | Sa Dragonera, a small island in the Balearic Islands, 3.2 km long and 500 meters high. | JPL · 181419 |
181483 Ampleforth | 2006 TA95 | Ampleforth, England, home to the Benedictine community of Ampleforth Abbey, to Ampleforth College where the discoverer was educated, and to the churchyard of Our Lady and St. Benedict's where his stepfather is buried | JPL · 181483 |
181494 Forestale | 2006 UJ4 | The name is dedicated to the women and men of the Italian State Forestry Corps (1822–2016). | IAU · 181494 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
181518 Ursulakleguin | 2006 UL86 | Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (1929–2018), an American novelist and the author of many books and stories for adults and children. Recipient of numerous literary awards, Le Guin's words will be remembered, worlds will be visited, and characters beloved, for as long as her namesake orbits the Sun. | JPL · 181518 |
181562 Paulrosendall | 2006 UT325 | Paul E. Rosendall (born 1984), a senior software engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, who served as the Lead for Software Fault Protection for the New Horizons mission to Pluto. | JPL · 181562 |
181569 Leetyphoon | 2006 VD21 | Typhoon Lee (born 1948), an isotope geochemist and nuclear astrophysicist who is a member of Taiwan's Academia Sinica | JPL · 181569 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
181627 Philgeluck | 2006 XZ5 | Philippe Geluck (born 1954), a Belgian comedian, humorist and cartoonist, creator of the comic strip Le Chat | JPL · 181627 |
181661 Alessandro | 2007 YO47 | Alessandro Foglia (born 1968) is the brother of one of the discoverers. He is a financial manager and a leader of the local Astronomy Club and he has introduced astronomy to young people. | IAU · 181661 |
181670 Kengyun | 2008 BO15 | KengYun (1924–2000), a master of Zen, who taught others how to understand themselves, and to recognize the laws of universe and reality. He helped others accomplish their completeness and human evolution toward the bliss of lives. | JPL · 181670 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
181702 Forcalquier | 1988 RC9 | Forcalquier, a community in southeastern France. It is located on the foot of the Luberon mountain ranges in the Alpes-de Haute Provence department. | JPL · 181702 |
181751 Phaenops | 1996 HS12 | Phaenops from Greek mythology. After hearing that Diomedes had killed both of his sons, Xanthos (Xanthus) and Thouon (Thoön), he was left in bitter grief and anguish. | JPL · 181751 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
181824 Königsleiten | 1998 SY35 | Königsleiten, an Austrian village in the province of Salzburg and part of Wald im Pinzgau | JPL · 181824 |
181829 Houyunde | 1998 SY62 | Hou Yunde (born 1929) laid the foundation for modern infectious disease prevention and control technology systems in China. He is an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The medical drugs he developed have cured millions of patients. He won the 2017 State Preeminent Science and Technology Award of China. | JPL · 181829 |
181872 Cathaysa | 1999 FL90 | Cathaysa was the name of a Guanche aboriginal girl who lived in Tenerife and was sold in Valencia as a slave in 1494, as well as the daughter (born 2005) of the Spanish astronomer David Martinez-Delgado. This name recognizes the Canary Islands' contribution to astronomy. | IAU · 181872 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
There are no named minor planets in this number range |