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]
321001–321100
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
321024 Gijon | 2008 MD1 | Gijon (Asturian: Xixón in Asturian) is the largest city and municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias in Spain | JPL · 321024 |
321045 Kretinga | 2008 QY32 | Kretinga is a town in the northwest region of Lithuania with 21 000 inhabitants. First mentioned in 1253, the town is located 12 km east of the popular Baltic Sea resort town of Palanga, and about 25 km north of Lithuania's principal seaport, Klaipėda. | IAU · 321045 |
321046 Klushantsev | 2008 QL33 | Pavel Klushantsev (1910–1999), a Russian film director, producer, screenwriter of popular-science films | JPL · 321046 |
321101–321200
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
321131 Alishan | 2008 UO87 | The Alishan Range, located between Chiayi and Nantou, is a mountain area over 2,000 meters above sea level in central Taiwan. Alishan is well known for its sunrises, a sea of clouds, an afterglow, a forest, and railways. | IAU · 321131 |
321197 Qingdao | 2008 YK8 | The Chinese city of Qingdao (or Tsingtao), a mayor tourist and harbor city on the Shandong Peninsula in Eastern China, where a campus of the Shandong University of Science and Technology is also located. | IAU · 321197 IAU |
321201–321300
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
There are no named minor planets in this number range |
321301–321400
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
321324 Vytautas | 2009 HJ68 | Vytautas Didysis the Great (1350–1430), one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania. | JPL · 321324 |
321357 Mirzakhani | 2009 MM | Maryam Mirzakhani (1977–2017), a professor at Stanford, was an outstanding Iranian-born mathematician. | JPL · 321357 |
321401–321500
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
321405 Ingehorst | 2009 QZ | Inge (born 1938) and Horst Zimmer (born 1931), parents of German co-discoverer Ute Zimmer | JPL · 321405 |
321453 Alexmarieann | 2009 RM2 | Aleksandr (born 1987), Mariia (born 1987) and Anna (born 1985), grandchildren of astronomer Klim Churyumov, co-discoverer of comet 67P (Rosetta mission). | JPL · 321453 |
321484 Marsaalam | 2009 SZ13 | Marsa Alam, a town in south-eastern Egypt, located on the western shore of the Red Sea. | JPL · 321484 |
321485 Cross | 2009 SK19 | Henri-Edmond Cross (1856–1910), born Henri-Edmond-Joseph Delacroix, a French painter and printmaker. | JPL · 321485 |
321501–321600
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
321577 Keanureeves | 2009 TA27 | Keanu Reeves (born 1964) is a well-known Canadian actor. He is known for his iconic acting roles (including The Matrix, Constantine and Point Break) as well as for his kindness and selflessness. | IAU · 321577 |
321601–321700
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
321673 Huber | 2010 CO182 | Description available (see ref). Please summarize in your own words. | IAU · 321673 |
321701–321800
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
There are no named minor planets in this number range |
321801–321900
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
321802 Malaspina | 2010 PA71 | Alessandro Malaspina (1754–1810) was an Italian navigator. He explored the Pacific Ocean during 1789–1794 in the service of Spain, visiting Chile, Alaska, the Philippines, New Zealand and Australia. He was unjustly sentenced to eight years in prison upon his return and could not publish the report of his journey, which was mostly forgotten for a century. | IAU · 321802 |
321901–322000
Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
---|---|---|---|
There are no named minor planets in this number range |
References
- ↑ "WGSBN Bulletin Archive". Working Group Small Body Nomenclature. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ↑ "JPL – Solar System Dynamics: Discovery Circumstances". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ↑ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ↑ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2006). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – Addendum to Fifth Edition: 2003–2005. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-540-34360-8. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ↑ Herget, Paul (1968). The Names of the Minor Planets. Cincinnati, Ohio: Minor Planet Center, Cincinnati Observatory. OCLC 224288991.
- ↑ "Guide to Minor Body Astrometry – When can I name my discovery?". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ↑ "Minor Planet Naming Guidelines (Rules and Guidelines for naming non-cometary small Solar-System bodies) – v1.0" (PDF). Working Group Small Body Nomenclature (PDF). 20 December 2021.