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".
Caroll Iorg (born 1946), a most enthusiastic amateur astronomer having been President of the Astronomical League (2010–2014) and currently serving as Media Officer.
Alexander J. Dessler (born 1928) is a space physicist who shaped understanding of how charged particles interact with magnetic fields of solar system objects. He first defined the existence and characteristics of the heliosphere, confirmed when Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause
Jim Fox (born 1945) started in astronomy in the 1950s with a "Junior Moon-Watch Team". He is the founder of what became the Minnesota Astronomical Society as well as a past President of the Astronomical League (1990–94). He was awarded the 2014 Leslie C. Peltier Award from the AAVSO.
Tim Robertson (born 1956) is a Quality Engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, with the GOES and JPSS weather satellite programs. On staff with the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO), he is Coordinator for the ALPO Training Program as well as Producer of the "Observer's Notebook" podcasts.
Elizabeth Griffin (born 1942) is a Canadian astronomer specializing in the spectroscopic study of binary stars. She has been a staunch advocate globally for the digitization and preservation of photographic plates and using legacy science data of all kinds.
Wayne Bailey (born 1942) worked in the aerospace industry supporting the Space Shuttle Spacelab program. He became the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO) Lunar Coordinator in 2008 and in 2017 was the recipient of the ALPO Peggy Haas Service Award.
Ian Remington Wessen (born 1992) has excelled as an honor student in high school, spent two summers learning the Russian language and six weeks working for the Europa Jupiter System Mission team
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "SBDB".
