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]
97001–97100
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97069 Stek | 1999 VB23 | Stefano Klett (born 1964) is a Swiss computer scientist and amateur astronomer who observes minor planets from his home town of Camorino. He is the promoter of the Ticino section of Dark Sky Switzerland. | JPL · 97069 |
97101–97200
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97186 Tore | 1999 WP8 | Salvatore Silanus (born 1961), nicknamed Tore, is a friend of Swiss astronomer Stefano Sposetti who discovered this minor planet. | JPL · 97186 |
97201–97300
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97268 Serafinozani | 1999 XD127 | The Serafino Zani Astronomical Observatory (Osservatorio astronomico Serafino Zani) in Italy was built by Serafino Zani and his family on San Bernardo hill in the commune of Lumezzane in Brescia, Lombardy, and then given to the local amateur astronomers. | JPL · 97268 |
97301–97400
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97336 Thomasafleming | 1999 YB1 | Thomas Anthony Fleming (born 1960) is an American x-ray astronomer and educator at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. He discovered that DA-type white dwarfs were not copious x-ray sources, and he is known for creating and expanding interactive computer-based astronomy education. | JPL · 97336 |
97401–97500
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97472 Hobby | 2000 CB41 | The Hobby Foundation supports museums and educational organizations throughout Texas. Ten thousand schoolchildren and members of the public a year view the wonders of the heavens through the Hobby telescope at the Houston Museum of Natural Science's George Observatory. | JPL · 97472 |
97501–97600
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97508 Bolden | 2000 CU110 | Charles Frank Bolden Jr. (born 1946) is a former American astronaut who flew on four space shuttle missions (two as the pilot and two as the commander). From 2009 to 2017, he was the NASA Administrator. | JPL · 97508 |
| 97512 Jemison | 2000 CV118 | Mae Carol Jemison (born 1956) is a retired American astronaut who flew on the space shuttle in 1992. On the space shuttle she conducted scientific experiments. She was the first African American woman to travel into space and the first African American woman admitted into the astronaut training program. | JPL · 97512 |
| 97582 Hijikawa | 2000 EP15 | Hijikawa River is a 103-km-long river in the Japanese Ehime prefecture. It has its source near the Tosaka Pass in Seiyo City and flows into the Seto Inland Sea. With more than 470 tributaries, the river has supplied its abundant water to the people in the southern part of Ehime, especially for irrigation. | JPL · 97582 |
97601–97700
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97631 Kentrobinson | 2000 ED144 | Ernest Kent Robinson (born 1939), an member of the advisory board at Lowell Observatory, enthusiastically spearheaded the capital campaign for a collection center and library to protect, preserve and make available the historic archives of that institution. | JPL · 97631 |
| 97637 Blennert | 2000 EQ156 | John Blennert (born 1951) is a meteorite hunter in Tucson, Arizona, one of three co-discoverers of the Gold Basin Meteorite Strewn Field | JPL · 97637 |
| 97677 Rachelfreed | 2000 FE57 | Rachel Freed (born 1972) is a teacher, an education curriculum specialist, and an avid long-distance runner. She works with the Astronomical Society of the Pacific as a volunteer and researcher. | JPL · 97677 |
97701–97800
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97786 Oauam | 2000 NU2 | The Poznań Observatory of Adam Mickiewicz University (OA UAM) in Poznań, Poland. The observatory (047) was active in asteroid and comet observations starting in the 1930s. In the 1990s the focus shifted to physical studies of asteroids. Currently OA UAM is the main center for studies of small Solar System bodies in Poland. | IAU · 97786 |
97801–97900
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
97901–98000
| 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.
This page was last edited on 12 November 2023, at 15:08