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".
Latin term for "something that has been replaced or restored to its former place"; this minor planet was originally lost soon after discovery, then found again †
Aladdin is the central character in a well-known folk tale of the same name. The story originates from western China or possibly the Middle East. It tells of Aladdin's battle with evil sorcerers to gain control of a magic lamp containing a genie who emerges to grant wishes whenever the lamp is rubbed.
Molleigh Elena Struble (1994–2010) grew up near Yerkes Observatory, where she volunteered for educational programs such as one connecting Yerkes and the Science Museum, Tokyo.
The County Palatine of the Rhine ("Kurpfalz") goes back to a territory of the Holy Roman Empire. In the Congress of Vienna in 1815 it was separated from Rheinland. The region around Heidelberg–Mannheim (now a part of Baden–Württemberg) is today still called "Kurpfalz" referring also to the people talking "Kurpfälzisch".
Olivier Gasnault (born 1973) specializes in remote sensing and is deeply involved in the exploration of the Moon and Mars, both from orbit and on the ground with the Curiosity Rover. Name and citation provided by S. Le Mouelic.
Christophe Sotin (born 1958), chief scientist of the proposed Titan orbiter Oceanus at JPL and director of the Laboratory for Planetology and Geodynamics at the University of Nantes
Vincenzo Millucci (born 1947), an Italian science communicator and professor of mathematical physics at the University of Siena. He established the university's Torre Luciana Observatory in Florence.
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "SBDB".
