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 |
---|---|---|---|
There are no named minor planets in this number range |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
195191 Constantinetsang | 2002 CC281 | Constantine C. C. Tsang (born 1981) is a Senior Research Scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, and served as a Science Team Collaborator for imaging data analysis for the New Horizons mission to Pluto. | JPL · 195191 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
195405 Lentyler | 2002 GQ27 | G. Leonard Tyler (born 1940), formerly of Stanford University, worked for the New Horizons mission to Pluto as a Science Team Co-investigator and as the REX instrument radio science principal investigator | JPL · 195405 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
195600 Scheithauer | 2002 JH148 | Christian Friedrich Scheithauer (1771–1846), a German teacher and amateur astronomer from Chemnitz | JPL · 195600 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
195657 Zhuangqining | 2002 NN60 | Zhuangqining (born 1945), a Chinese teacher and the first Secretary-General of the Ningbo Astronomy Amateur Association | JPL · 195657 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
195777 Sheepman | 2002 PP154 | Sheepman, a fictional character featured in the novels A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. The Sheepman is a shabby but oracular creature and appears as an unshaven man dressed in sheepskin who instructs the protagonist to "dance so it all keeps spinning." | JPL · 195777 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
195853 Ouyangtianjing | 2002 QA80 | Ouyang Tianjing (1944–2015), a Chinese amateur astronomer. | IAU · 195853 |
195900 Rogersudbury | 2002 RS41 | Roger Sudbury (born 1938) provided leadership and expertise in the national security community since joining the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory in 1969. As a key senior leader at the Laboratory, he assisted in initiating the LINEAR Ceres Connection program. | JPL · 195900 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
195998 Skipwilson | 2002 RO235 | Ivan "Skip" Wilson (born 1941), pioneer of systematic meteorite recovery | JPL · 195998 |
196000 Izzard | 2002 RY237 | Eddie Izzard (born 1962), a British stand-up comic and dramatic actor | JPL · 196000 |