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".
Asteroid Day is an annual global movement that brings people from around the world together to learn about asteroids and what we can do to protect our planet from asteroid impacts. The United Nations has proclaimed that Asteroid Day will be observed globally on June 30 every year.
Mažeikiai is a Lithuanian city of 45,000 inhabitants, located 280 km northwest of Vilnius on the Venta River. Mazeikiai was first mentioned in 1335 and received the rights of self-government in 1919.
Gino Strada (born 1948) is a surgeon and founder of Emergency, an Italian non-governmental humanitarian organization that operates in several countries all over the world.
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "SBDB".
