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 |
---|---|---|---|
248183 Peisandros | 2005 AD28 | Peisander (Peisandros), son of Antimachus, from Greek mythology. He and his brother Hippolochos were killed by Agamemnon during the Trojan War. | JPL · 248183 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
248262 Liuxiaobo | 2005 GR128 | Liu Xiaobo (born 1955) received the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his long and nonviolent struggle for human rights in China. | JPL · 248262 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
248321 Cester | 2005 PL20 | Bruno Cester (1920–2017), an Italian physicist and astronomer at the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste. His research included variable stars as well as (visual) double stars. | IAU · 248321 |
248388 Namtso | 2005 SE19 | Namtso is a mountain lake in Tibet. It is also known as Lake Nam, Nam Co, and Tengri Nor. | JPL · 248388 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
There are no named minor planets in this number range |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
248750 Asteroidday | 2006 RH1 | Asteroid Day is an annual global movement that brings people from around the world together to learn about asteroids and what we can do to protect our planet from asteroid impacts. The United Nations has proclaimed that Asteroid Day will be observed globally on June 30 every year. | JPL · 248750 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
248839 Mazeikiai | 2006 SY406 | Mažeikiai is a Lithuanian city of 45,000 inhabitants, located 280 km northwest of Vilnius on the Venta River. Mazeikiai was first mentioned in 1335 and received the rights of self-government in 1919. | JPL · 248839 |
248866 Margherita | 2006 UN55 | Flavia Margherita Natalina Mazzucato (b. 1953), Retired nurse and sister of co-discoverer. | IAU · 248866 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
248908 Ginostrada | 2006 VY45 | Gino Strada (1948–2021), an Italian surgeon and founder of Emergency, an Italian non-governmental humanitarian organization that operates in several countries all over the world | JPL · 248908 |
248970 Giannimorandi | 2007 BC49 | Gianni Morandi (born 1944), an Italian singer, actor and entertainer | JPL · 248970 |
248993 Jonava | 2007 GM28 | Jonava, a city in central Lithuania | JPL · 248993 |