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]
255001–255100
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 255019 Fleurmaxwell | 2005 TN52 | Fleur Maxwell (born 1988), Luxembourg's 2005 national champion figure skater. | JPL · 255019 |
| 255073 Victoriabond | 2005 UR8 | Victoria Bond, popular Australian science radio presenter of "Diffusion Science Radio" | JPL · 255073 |
255101–255200
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
255201–255300
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 255257 Mechwart | 2005 VR1 | András Mechwart (1834–1907), a Hungarian industrialist | JPL · 255257 |
255301–255400
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 255308 Christianzuber | 2005 WB5 | Christian Zuber (1930–2005), a French journalist, writer, film producer and lecturer. | JPL · 255308 |
255401–255500
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
255501–255600
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 255587 Gardenia | 2006 OU4 | Gardenia, a genus of flowering plants in the coffee family Rubiaceae. The genus was named after Alexander Garden, a Scottish-born American naturalist. | JPL · 255587 |
| 255598 Paullauterbur | 2006 PE1 | Paul Lauterbur (1929–2007), an American chemist and Nobel Laureate | JPL · 255598 |
255601–255700
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
255701–255800
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 255703 Stetson | 2006 QN90 | Peter B. Stetson (born 1952), a Canadian astronomer and developer of freely-available software for the analysis of CCD images and spectra, who is a co-discoverer of minor planets | JPL · 255703 |
255801–255900
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
255901–256000
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 255940 Maylis | 2006 TZ9 | Maylis Lavayssière (born 1984), a French research engineer, member of Dax Observatory who has co-authored papers on stellar occultations by asteroids and mutual phenomena of Jupiter's satellites. | IAU · 255940 |
| 255989 Dengyushian | 2006 TU94 | Teng Yu-hsien (1906–1944), a Taiwanese musician, known as the Father of Taiwanese Folk Music. He wrote many famous melodies which are considered to be the symbols of Taiwan's mind and spirit. | JPL · 255989 |
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.
This page was last edited on 7 February 2024, at 05:09