Meanings of minor planet names: 202001–203000
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 approved and published in a bulletin by IAU's Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN).[1] Before May 2021, citations were published in MPC's Minor Planet Circulars for many decades.[2] Recent citations can also be found on the JPL Small-Body Database (SBDB).[3] 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.[4][5]
Based on Paul Herget's The 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 the public domain: SBDB New namings may only be added 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]
202001–202100
[edit]
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202092 Algirdas | 2004 TD17 | Algirdas (1296–1377), a monarch of medieval Lithuania. | JPL · 202092 |
| 202093 Jogaila | 2004 TP17 | Jogaila, later Władysław II Jagiełło (1348–1434) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania (1377–1434) and then the King of Poland (1386–1434). He joined two states that became the leading power of eastern Europe and was the founder of Poland's Jagiellon dynasty. | IAU · 202093 |
202101–202200
[edit]
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
202201–202300
[edit]
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
202301–202400
[edit]
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202373 Ubuntu | 2005 EW302 | Ubuntu, a philosophy focusing on people's relations with each other, emphasizes unity. Its origin is in the native languages of southern Africa and it is one of the founding principles of the new South Africa | JPL · 202373 |
202401–202500
[edit]
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
202501–202600
[edit]
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202599 Harkányi | 2006 HS18 | Béla Harkányi (1869–1932), a Hungarian astrophysicist and mathematician. | IAU · 202599 |
202601–202700
[edit]
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202605 Shenchunshan | 2006 HY30 | Shen Chun-shan (1932–2018), Chinese physicist and president of the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan | JPL · 202605 |
| 202614 Kayleigh | 2006 HD58 | Kayleigh Lucille Stamp (1996–2010), the eldest granddaughter of the Australian discoverer David R. Herald | JPL · 202614 |
| 202686 Birkfellner | 2007 CH54 | Wolfgang Birkfellner (born 1970), an Austrian medical physicist and amateur astronomer. | JPL · 202686 |
202701–202800
[edit]
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202704 Utena | 2007 GN6 | Utena, city in north-east Lithuania | JPL · 202704 |
| 202736 Julietclare | 2007 KB2 | Juliet Clare Datson (born 1980), astronomer, former student of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany | JPL · 202736 |
| 202740 Vicsympho | 2007 LB30 | Victoria Symphony, Canadian orchestra based in Victoria, British Columbia | JPL · 202740 |
| 202778 Dmytria | 2007 UN3 | Dmytro Yatskiv (1963–2004), laser physicist and observer at Kyiv satellite laser ranging station | JPL · 202778 |
| 202784 Gangkeda | 2008 DJ69 | Gangkeda, the Mandarin Chinese Pinyin abbreviation for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Xiānggǎng Kējì Dàxué), which was founded in 1991 | JPL · 202784 |
| 202787 Kestecher | 2008 OG | Natalie Kestecher (born 1961), Australian radio producer | JPL · 202787 |
| 202790 Babits | 2008 QR3 | Mihály Babits (1883–1941), Hungarian poet, writer, literary historian and translator. | JPL · 202790 |
202801–202900
[edit]
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202806 Sierrastars | 2008 SW2 | Sierra Stars Observatory (G68), located in Markleeville, California | JPL · 202806 |
| 202819 Carlosánchez | 2008 SY81 | Carlos Sánchez Magro (1944–1985), Spanish astrophysicist and pioneer in infrared astronomy | JPL · 202819 |
202901–203000
[edit]
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202907 Meisenheimer | 1996 RH1 | German astronomer Klaus Meisenheimer (1951–2023). | IAU · 202907 |
| 202909 Jakoten | 1996 TF12 | Jakoten, a traditional Japanese food | JPL · 202909 |
| 202930 Ivezić | 1998 SG172 | Željko Ivezić (born 1965), a Croatian-American astrophysicist, telescope builder for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDDS) and a principal author of the SDSS Moving Object Catalogue | JPL · 202930 |
References
[edit]- ^ "WGSBN Bulletin Archive". Working Group Small Body Nomenclature. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "JPL – Solar System Dynamics: Discovery Circumstances". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2006). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – Addendum to Fifth Edition: 2003–2005. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-540-34360-8. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ Herget, Paul (1968). The Names of the Minor Planets. Cincinnati, Ohio: Minor Planet Center, Cincinnati Observatory. OCLC 224288991.
- ^ "Guide to Minor Body Astrometry – When can I name my discovery?". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ "Minor Planet Naming Guidelines (Rules and Guidelines for naming non-cometary small Solar-System bodies) – v1.0" (PDF). Working Group Small Body Nomenclature (PDF). 20 December 2021.