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]
Oliver L. White (born 1984), a research scientist at the NASASETI Institute who worked for theNew Horizons mission toPluto as a science team post-doctoral researcher for geophysics investigations
Karl E. Whittenburg (born 1966), a mission operations engineer at the Johns Hopkins UniversityApplied Physics Laboratory who worked for theNew Horizons mission toPluto as the Deputy Mission Operations Manager
Stephen P. Williams (born 1953), a software engineer at the Johns Hopkins UniversityApplied Physics Laboratory who worked for theNew Horizons mission toPluto as the Command and Data Handling Engineering Lead
Deronda Mayes (born 1957), assistant astronomer atTable Mountain Observatory in California, who operates the 0.4-meter telescope. She is in charge of observatory procurement needs, as well as all annual telescope operational safety reviews, along with TMO property accountability. She is credited with the discovery of asteroid(326975).