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]
40001–40100
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40007 Vieuxtemps | 1998 HV102 | Henri Vieuxtemps (1820–1881), a Belgian composer and violist | JPL · 40007 |
| 40023 ANPCEN | 1998 HU148 | The National Association for the Protection of the Sky and Nightly Environments in France (ANPCEN) was established in March 1999. Presently 581 communities have joined the association. Recently Strasbourg, a city of 300,000 inhabitants, has signed the association's charter. | JPL · 40023 |
| 40081 Rault | 1998 MG14 | Jean Louis Rault (born 1949) is a French amateur radio astronomer who was president of the radioastronomy commission of the Société Astronomique de France from 2008 to 2019. He is responsible for the radio part of the Vigie-Ciel network, which detects the echoes of the GRAVES space surveillance radar. | IAU · 40081 |
| 40092 Memel | 1998 ME47 | Neman or Memel River, whose Couronian-Latvian name means silent | JPL · 40092 |
40101–40200
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40104 Stevekerr | 1998 QE4 | Description available (see ref). Please summarize in your own words. | IAU · 40104 |
| 40106 Erben | 1998 QW5 | Karel Jaromír Erben (1811–1870), Czech author, poet, and collector of folk songs, rhymes and fairy tales | JPL · 40106 |
| 40134 Marsili | 1998 QO53 | The Marsili undersea volcano located in the Tyrrhenian Sea, south of Naples, Italy. It is Europe's highest and largest submarine volcano. | JPL · 40134 |
| 40198 Azarkhalatbari | 1998 SA1 | Azar Khalatbari (1961–2022) was a French-Iranian science writer who obtained a PhD in geophysics and a Master's degree in the history of science. She specialized in physics, astrophysics, earth sciences and mathematics. Her articles and books helped make these disciplines readily accessible to wide audiences. | IAU · 40198 |
40201–40300
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40201 Besely | 1998 SO13 | Description available (see ref). Please summarize in your own words. | IAU · 40201 |
| 40201 Besely | 1998 SO13 | Besely is the name of the first astronomical observatory in Madagascar. It is managed by Haikintana, Association Malgache pour la promotion de la science, Société Astronomique de France and Uranoscope de France. It aims to develop astronomy and science in Madagascar and in Africa. | IAU · 40201 |
| 40206 Lhenice | 1998 SB36 | Lhenice, South Bohemia, Czech market town † | MPC · 40206 |
| 40209 Morrispodolak | 1998 SU55 | Morris Podolak (born 1949) is a professor of planetary sciences at Tel-Aviv University whose long career includes studying giant planet formation, protostellar discs, and the structure and evolution of comets. | IAU · 40209 |
| 40210 Peixinho | 1998 SL56 | Nuno Peixinho (born 1971) from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) is a planetary scientist who studies the chemical composition of small bodies across the Solar System. | IAU · 40210 |
| 40227 Tahiti | 1998 SR145 | Tahiti, the largest island in French Polynesia, where the British astronomer Charles Green observed the 1769 transit of Venus | JPL · 40227 |
| 40230 Rožmberk | 1998 TJ6 | Rožmberkové (The Rosenbergs), one of the most significant Bohemian noble families | JPL · 40230 |
| 40233 Baradeau | 1998 UH2 | Patrick Baradeau (born 1952) is a French historian and publisher. He worked with the Ministry of National Education and he was president and secretary general of the Société astronomique de France from 2014 to 2021. He was also the Director of the publication of the magazine l'Astronomie. | IAU · 40233 |
| 40241 Deienno | 1998 VA46 | Description available (see ref). Please summarize in your own words. | IAU · 40241 |
| 40248 Yukikajiura | 1998 XF5 | Yuki Kajiura (born 1965) is a Japanese composer and musical producer. She has composed the soundtrack music for many anime films and has formed the musical groups FictionJunction and Kalafina. | JPL · 40248 |
40301–40400
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40328 Dow | 1999 MK | Marjorie Dow Healy (1906–2000), mother of David Healy who discovered this minor planet | MPC · 40328 |
40401–40500
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40409 Taichikato | 1999 RS2 | Taichi Kato (born 1961), Japanese astronomer | JPL · 40409 |
| 40410 Příhoda | 1999 RJ3 | Pavel Příhoda (born 1934), Czech author and astronomy popularizer, editor-in-chief of The Czech Astronomical Yearbook | JPL · 40410 |
| 40436 Sylviecoyaud | 1999 RQ32 | Sylvie Coyaud, a French-Italian scientific reporter and amateur astronomer | JPL · 40436 |
| 40440 Dobrovský | 1999 RU34 | Josef Dobrovský (1753–1829), a Czech linguist, who codified the rules of the written Czech language | JPL · 40440 |
| 40441 Jungmann | 1999 RW34 | Josef Jungmann (1773–1847), Czech poet, publicist and literary historian, author of the Czech-German Dictionary | JPL · 40441 |
| 40444 Palacký | 1999 RV35 | František Palacký (1798–1876), Czech historian and politician | JPL · 40444 |
| 40447 Lorenzoni | 1999 RC37 | Giuseppe Lorenzoni (1843–1914), an Italian astronomer and scientist | JPL · 40447 |
| 40457 Williamkuhn | 1999 RG43 | William Kuhn (1918–2003), American amateur astronomer, designer of the Orange County Astronomers 57 cm Kuhn telescope at Anza, California Src | MPC · 40457 |
| 40459 Rektorys | 1999 RK43 | Karel Rektorys (born 1923), Czech mathematician and professor at the Czech Technical University in Prague | JPL · 40459 |
| 40463 Frankkameny | 1999 RE44 | Frank Kameny (1925–2011), American astronomer in the 1950s | JPL · 40463 |
40501–40600
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
40601–40700
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40684 Vanhoeck | 1999 RE214 | Luc Vanhoeck (1959–2005), Belgian amateur astronomer and pioneer of digital astrophotography | JPL · 40684 |
40701–40800
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40706 Milam | 1999 RO240 | Stefanie N. Milam (born 1980) is an astrochemist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Her expertise ranges across the electromagnetic spectrum and from interstellar ices to evolved stars to solar system objects. She is Deputy Project Scientist for Planetary Science for the James Webb Space Telescope. | IAU · 40706 |
| 40763 Zloch | 1999 TS14 | František Zloch (born 1949) is a retired solar observer of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Ondřejov. He conducted systematic observations of solar activity from 1981 to 2011, which were used by the International Patrol Service. He was also the founder and first director of the Rimavská Sobota Observatory (1975–1981). | JPL · 40763 |
| 40764 Gerhardiser | 1999 TA16 | Gerhard Iser (born 1962), German amateur astronomer and mentor of one of the discoverers | JPL · 40764 |
| 40774 Iwaigame | 1999 TH20 | Iwaigame Mountain, located in the southern part of the Asahi mountain range. | JPL · 40774 |
| 40775 Kalafina | 1999 TO20 | Kalafina, a Japanese vocal group formed in 2007 by composer Yuki Kajiura to produce the soundtrack music for the anime "Kara no Kyoukai", also known in English as "The Garden of Sinners". Their popularity has grown and they are now a neoclassical pop group presenting frequent concerts in Japan and internationally. | JPL · 40775 |
| 40776 Yeungkwongyu | 1999 TA21 | William Kwong Yu Yeung (born 1960), a Canadian amateur astronomer and one of the world's most prolific amateur discoverers of minor planets and comets. He has also found J002E3, believed to be the Apollo 12 S-IVB stage. | JPL · 40776 |
| 40795 Akiratsuchiyama | 1999 TF36 | Akira Tsuchiyama (born 1954) is a professor at Ritsumeikan University (Japan) and leader of the Itokawa sample analysis for the Hayabusa spacecraft mission. He specializes in studying primitive solar-system materials and is a pioneer for the three-dimensional study of materials using X-ray microtomography. | IAU · 40795 |
40801–40900
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
40901–41000
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40917 Pauljorden | 1999 TW156 | Paul Jorden (born 1951) has a unique career that has included leadership positions in the scientific community (Royal Greenwich Observatory) and industry (e2v technologies). His teams have developed state-of-the-art imaging sensors and applied them to ground-based and space astronomy over a period of more than three decades. | JPL · 40917 |
| 40919 Johntonry | 1999 TF162 | John Tonry (born 1953), of the University of Hawaii, has worked at the cutting edge of science and technology in astronomy. He developed the orthogonal transfer CCD concept, and a new method for extragalactic distance determinations, and was on the team that made the Nobel Prize winning discovery of dark energy. | JPL · 40919 |
| 40956 Ericamsel | 1999 TZ241 | Eric Amsel (born 1956) is a Canadian-American psychologist and professor. He has mentored countless historically-disenfranchised students. | IAU · 40956 |
| 40981 Stephenholland | 1999 TL284 | Stephen Holland (born 1956), of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is a pioneer in the development of silicon detectors for medical imaging, x-ray photon sciences, astronomy, and high-energy physics. | JPL · 40981 |
| 40994 Tekaridake | 1999 UZ2 | Tekaridake, a mountain in the northern part of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan | JPL · 40994 |
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 25 November 2023, at 03:50