Asminor planet discoveries are confirmed, they are given a permanent number by theIAU'sMinor Planet Center (MPC), and the discoverers can then submit names for them, following the IAU'snaming conventions. The list below concerns those minor planets in the specified number-range that have received names, and explains the meanings of those names.
Based onPaul Herget'sThe 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 thepublic domain: SBDB New namings may only beadded 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]
Holger Mandel (born 1957), German astronomer at the Landessternwarte Heidelberg and an honorary member of theStarkenburg-Sternwarte. He is the manager of the LUCIFER project, which has designed two multi-mode instruments for the Large Binocular Telescope. The name was suggested byErwin Schwab.
Jaroslav Kotek (born 1956), husband of astronomerLenka Kotková, who discovered this minor planet. He is a lighting engineer, engaged in the protection of the night-sky from light pollution. He has created a real home for the discoverer and fosters her work in astronomy.
Sean E. Urban (born 1962) has made significant advances to astrometry, including completion of the reductions of the 22,000 Astrographic Catalogue plates. These data formed the basis of proper motions for the most important reference star catalogs of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including Tycho-2 and the UCAC.
Norbert (born 1957) and Marion I. (born 1960) Zacharias made important contributions to the link between the radio and optical reference frames and were instrumental in producing the US Naval Observatory's CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC) series of reference star catalogs widely used in the astronomical community.
The US city ofLas Cruces, New Mexico. It was founded in 1848 at a site along the Rio Grande river and has grown from a small settlement of about 120 persons to a city that is home to agriculture, industry and New Mexico State University. The clear, dry climate and elevation has attracted a number of astronomical observatories to the area (Src).
Alberto Suci (born 1937), an Italian amateur astronomer who is very active in observing the sky and popularizing astronomy in schools and cultural associations. He is the founder of the Astronomy Laboratory in the town of Agliana and the coordinator of the planetarium project in Monsummano Terme.
Chvojen, a small Czech village in theBenešov District of centralBohemia. The first settlement there dates back to the Celts. St. Jacob and Philip Church in Chvojen, built in 1217, is known for medieval wall paintings, including Leviathan and Ptolemy Solar System.
Matthew Alexander Henson (1866–1955) was an American explorer who explored the Arctic alongsideRobert Peary on several expeditions, including in 1909 when they may have been the first to reach the geographic North Pole. Among many accolades he was the first African American made a lifetime member ofThe Explorers Club.
Kerry Price (born 1939), an accomplished jazz singer who has performed with numerous dixieland jazz bands in southern Michigan over the last 50 years. She is also the music director for a church in suburban Detroit, Michigan.
Thomas Shea (1931–1982) was an American ragtime composer best known for his "prairie ragtime" style and the more than 20 "rags" he composed. He was active in ragtime and jazz in the Detroit, Michigan area throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Christopher J. Pritchet (born 1950), a Canadian professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Victoria and a leading authority in the field of observational cosmology, supernovae, galaxy formation and evolution.
Georg Alexander Pick (1859–1942), an Austrian mathematician who worked in Prague, is best known for his theorem for determining the area of lattice polygons. In 1911 he invited Albert Einstein to Prague and introduced him to the field of absolute differential calculus, which later helped Einstein to formulate general relativity.
Alexander Pravda (born 1961), a Slovak astronomer and friend of the discoverersAdrián Galád andPeter Kolény, with whom he hadco-discovered several minor planets until 1998. As a keen observer, he was fascinated by the changes in cometary appearance. His friends were inspired by his wide range of interests, including music and painting.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain: SBDB New namings may only beadded 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]