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 published in MPC's Minor Planet Circulars several times a year.[1] Recent citations can also be found on the JPL Small-Body Database (SBDB).[2] 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.[3][4] Based on Paul Herget's The Names of the Minor Planets,[5] Schmadel also researched the unclear origin of numerous asteroids, most of which had been named prior to World War II. Meanings marked with * are from legacy sources may not be accurate. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "SBDB".
Julius Sperauskas (born 1950), President of Lithuanian Astronomical Union (2003–2007), is Senior Researcher at the Astronomical Observatory of Vilnius University.
Gabe D. Rogers (born 1973) is an assistant group supervisor at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, who served as the Spacecraft Systems Engineer for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto.
Kevin Joseph VonFeldt (1983–2009), of Stafford, Texas, husband of Thanh, son of Randy and Mary and brother of Brian, was a licensed aircraft mechanic who loved family, baseball and motorcycles
Debra M. Rose (born 1959) is a Senior Program Manager for Research and Development at the Southwest Research Institute, and served as a Payload Instrument Sequencer for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto.
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "SBDB".
