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]
Vygandas Laugalys (born 1972), Lithuanian astronomer, is an expert in Galactic structure and stellar photometry. He is known as a hunter of asteroids and together with K. Černis, he discovered the first asteroid from Lithuania in 2001. He is the author of more than 40 scientific papers.
Harald Michaelis (b. 1957) of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) has been the head of the Planetary Sensor Systems Department for nearly three decades.