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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541132 Leleākūhonua | 2015 TG387 | Leleākūhonua is a life form mentioned in the Hawaiian creation chant, the Kumulipo. The name compares the orbit to the flight of migratory birds and evokes a yearning to be near Earth. Me he manu i ke ala pō`aiapuni lā, he pa`a mau nō ia i ka hui me kona pūnana i kumu mai ai. | JPL · 541132 |
541185 Boldogkői | 2011 BO44 | Description available (see ref). Please summarize in your own words. | IAU · 541185 |
541200 Komjádibéla | 2011 BJ107 | Béla Komjádi (1892–1933) was a Hungarian water polo player and coach. | IAU · 541200 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
There are no named minor planets in this number range |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
541487 Silviapablo | 2011 OG18 | Silvia (born 2006) and Pablo (born 2010) are the children of the Spanish amateur astronomer Juanjo Gonzalez. | IAU · 541487 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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541508 Liucixin | 2011 QK37 | Liu Cixin (b. 1963) is a Chinese science-fiction writer. He received the 2015 Hugo Award for his novel The Three-Body Problem . | IAU · 541508 |
541550 Schickbéla | 2011 SR68 | Béla Schick (1877–1967) was a Hungarian-born American pediatrician, known for his Schick test he developed in 1913 | IAU · 541550 |
541565 Gucklerkároly | 2011 SW194 | Károly Guckler (1858–1923) was a Hungarian forester, best known for the reforestation of the Hármashatár hill in Budapest city, Hungary. | IAU · 541565 |
541571 Schulekfrigyes | 2011 SM232 | Frigyes Schulek (1841–1919) was a Hungarian architect, full professor at the Technical University of Budapest, and a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. | IAU · 541571 |
541575 Mikhailnazarov | 2011 SX247 | Description available (see ref). Please summarize in your own words. | IAU · 541575 |
541582 Tóthimre | 2011 TZ5 | Imre Tóth (born 1957) is a Hungarian astronomer and planetary scientist, known for his research on the coma and nucleus of comets using observations made by the Hubble telescope. | IAU · 541582 |
541587 Paparó | 2011 TG16 | Margit Paparó (born 1950), a Hungarian astronomer and an observer of pulsating variable stars. She has also discovered supernova SN 1976C. | IAU · 541587 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
541618 Magyaribéla | 2011 UY125 | Béla Magyari (1949–2018) was a Hungarian pilot, aeronautical engineer, colonel in the Hungarian Air Force, member of the Hungarian Astronomical Association, president of the Hungarian Astronautical Society, and a backup cosmonaut of the Soyuz 36 mission, who also worked for the Hungarian Space Office. | IAU · 541618 |
541627 Halmospál | 2011 UE155 | Paul Halmos (1916–2006) was a Hungarian-American mathematician. | IAU · 541627 |
541631 Kirbulychev | 2011 UT172 | Description available (see ref). Please summarize in your own words. | IAU · 541631 |
541691 Ranschburg | 2011 VC3 | Jenő Ranschburg (1935–2011) was a Hungarian psychologist, writer, and science popularizer. | IAU · 541691 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
541741 Fado | 2011 WD118 | Fado, a Portuguese musical genre with roots in historical music from urban Lisbon. Fado also translates to "destiny" or "fate" in English. | IAU · 541741 |
541776 Oláhkatalin | 2011 YZ12 | Katalin Oláh (born 1948),0 a Hungarian astronomer at the Konkoly Observatory. Her research includes binary stars, as wells as the spots, the differential rotation, and the cycling activity of stars. | IAU · 541776 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
541842 Amygreaves | 2012 BF24 | Amy Greaves (born 2003), the granddaughter of British amateur astronomer Norman Falla, who discovered this minor planet. | IAU · 541842 |
541878 Jessicatallulah | 2012 BX130 | Jessica Tallulah Jane Forward (born 2005), the granddaughter of British amateur astronomer Norman Falla, who discovered this minor planet. | IAU · 541878 |
541897 TRAPPIST | 2012 CK | TRAPPIST (Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescopes) are two 0.6-meter robotic telescopes located at the La Silla Observatory in Chile and at the Oukaïmeden Observatory in Morocco used for searching for comets and exoplanets. | IAU · 541897 |
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
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541982 Grendel | 2012 FF87 | Lajos Grendel (1948–2018) was a Slovakian-Hungarian writer and university teacher. | IAU · 541982 |
541983 Matthiaspenselin | 2012 GN5 | Matthias Penselin (born 1963) is a German science teacher and astronomer. | IAU · 541983 |
541992 Lukácsbéla | 2012 GE26 | Béla Lukács (born 1947) is a Hungarian theoretical physicist. | IAU · 541992 |