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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261107 Cameroncasimir | 2005 SW282 | Cameron Casimir Sage Becker (born 2017) is the son of the discoverer, and twin brother of Oban Helian Duane Becker. | IAU · 261107 |
261108 Obanhelian | 2005 SZ283 | Oban Helian Duane Becker (born 2017) is the son of the discoverer, and twin brother of Cameron Casimir Sage Becker. | IAU · 261108 |
261109 Annie | 2005 SN284 | Annie Lakey Becker (born 1980), an American microbiologist and wife of the discoverer Andrew C. Becker | JPL · 261109 |
261110 Neoma | 2005 SE285 | Neoma Tennyson Skye Becker (born 2015) is the daughter of the discoverer. | JPL · 261110 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
261291 Fucecchio | 2005 UC159 | Fucecchio, a historic Italian town located between Pisa and Florence | JPL · 261291 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
261690 Jodorowsky | 2005 YU210 | Alejandro Jodorowsky (born 1929), a Chilean-French film-maker, playwright, actor, author, musician and comics writer. | JPL · 261690 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
261930 Moorhead | 2006 KF138 | James Marshall Moorhead (born 1940), an American-Canadian astronomer | JPL · 261930 |
261936 Liulin | 2006 OR2 | Liu Lin (born 1936), a professor at China's Nanjing University | JPL · 261936 |