Meanings of minor-planet names

This is a list of minor planets which have been officially named by the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The list consists of partial pages, each covering a number range of 1,000 bodies citing the source after each minor planet was named for. An overview of all existing partial pages is given in section § Index.

Among the hundreds of thousands of numbered minor planets only a small fraction have received a name so far. As of 10 June 2024, there are 24,795 named minor planets out of a total of more than 600,000 numbered ones (also see List of minor planets § Main index as numbers increase constantly).[1] Most of these bodies are named for people, in particular astronomers, as well as figures from mythology and fiction. Many minor planets are also named after places such cities, towns, and villages, mountains and volcanoes; after rivers, observatories, as well as organizations, clubs and astronomical societies. Some are named after animals and plants. A few minor planets are named after exotic entities such as supercomputers or have an unknown origin.

The first few thousand minor planets have all been named, with the near-Earth asteroid (4596) 1981 QB currently being the lowest-numbered unnamed minor planet.[2] The first 3 pages in the below table contain 1,000 named entries each. The first 13 and 33 pages contain at least 500 and 100 named entries each, respectively. The first range to contain no entries is 307001–308000. There are also several name conflicts with other astronomical objects, mostly with planetary satellites and among themselves.

Following a proposal of the discovering astronomer, new minor planet names are approved and published by IAU's WGSBN several times a year.[1] The WGSBN applies a set of rules for naming minor planets.[3] These range from syntax restrictions to non-offensive meanings. Over the years the rules have changed several times. In the beginning, for example, most minor planets were named after female characters from Greek and Roman mythology.[3]

Index

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This is an overview of all existing partial lists on the meanings of minor planets (MoMP). Each table covers 100,000 minor planets, with each cell representing a specific partial list of 1,000 sequentially numbered bodies. Grayed out cells do not yet contain any citations for the corresponding number range. For an introduction, see § top.

Meanings from 1 to 100,000

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1–1000 1,001 2,001 3,001 4,001 5,001 6,001 7,001 8,001 9,001
10,001 11,001 12,001 13,001 14,001 15,001 16,001 17,001 18,001 19,001
20,001 21,001 22,001 23,001 24,001 25,001 26,001 27,001 28,001 29,001
30,001 31,001 32,001 33,001 34,001 35,001 36,001 37,001 38,001 39,001
40,001 41,001 42,001 43,001 44,001 45,001 46,001 47,001 48,001 49,001
50,001 51,001 52,001 53,001 54,001 55,001 56,001 57,001 58,001 59,001
60,001 61,001 62,001 63,001 64,001 65,001 66,001 67,001 68,001 69,001
70,001 71,001 72,001 73,001 74,001 75,001 76,001 77,001 78,001 79,001
80,001 81,001 82,001 83,001 84,001 85,001 86,001 87,001 88,001 89,001
90,001 91,001 92,001 93,001 94,001 95,001 96,001 97,001 98,001 99,001

Meanings from 100,001 to 200,000

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100,001 101,001 102,001 103,001 104,001 105,001 106,001 107,001 108,001 109,001
110,001 111,001 112,001 113,001 114,001 115,001 116,001 117,001 118,001 119,001
120,001 121,001 122,001 123,001 124,001 125,001 126,001 127,001 128,001 129,001
130,001 131,001 132,001 133,001 134,001 135,001 136,001 137,001 138,001 139,001
140,001 141,001 142,001 143,001 144,001 145,001 146,001 147,001 148,001 149,001
150,001 151,001 152,001 153,001 154,001 155,001 156,001 157,001 158,001 159,001
160,001 161,001 162,001 163,001 164,001 165,001 166,001 167,001 168,001 169,001
170,001 171,001 172,001 173,001 174,001 175,001 176,001 177,001 178,001 179,001
180,001 181,001 182,001 183,001 184,001 185,001 186,001 187,001 188,001 189,001
190,001 191,001 192,001 193,001 194,001 195,001 196,001 197,001 198,001 199,001

Meanings from 200,001 to 300,000

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200,001 201,001 202,001 203,001 204,001 205,001 206,001 207,001 208,001 209,001
210,001 211,001 212,001 213,001 214,001 215,001 216,001 217,001 218,001 219,001
220,001 221,001 222,001 223,001 224,001 225,001 226,001 227,001 228,001 229,001
230,001 231,001 232,001 233,001 234,001 235,001 236,001 237,001 238,001 239,001
240,001 241,001 242,001 243,001 244,001 245,001 246,001 247,001 248,001 249,001
250,001 251,001 252,001 253,001 254,001 255,001 256,001 257,001 258,001 259,001
260,001 261,001 262,001 263,001 264,001 265,001 266,001 267,001 268,001 269,001
270,001 271,001 272,001 273,001 274,001 275,001 276,001 277,001 278,001 279,001
280,001 281,001 282,001 283,001 284,001 285,001 286,001 287,001 288,001 289,001
290,001 291,001 292,001 293,001 294,001 295,001 296,001 297,001 298,001 299,001

Meanings from 300,001 to 400,000

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300,001 301,001 302,001 303,001 304,001 305,001 306,001 307,001 308,001 309,001
310,001 311,001 312,001 313,001 314,001 315,001 316,001 317,001 318,001 319,001
320,001 321,001 322,001 323,001 324,001 325,001 326,001 327,001 328,001 329,001
330,001 331,001 332,001 333,001 334,001 335,001 336,001 337,001 338,001 339,001
340,001 341,001 342,001 343,001 344,001 345,001 346,001 347,001 348,001 349,001
350,001 351,001 352,001 353,001 354,001 355,001 356,001 357,001 358,001 359,001
360,001 361,001 362,001 363,001 364,001 365,001 366,001 367,001 368,001 369,001
370,001 371,001 372,001 373,001 374,001 375,001 376,001 377,001 378,001 379,001
380,001 381,001 382,001 383,001 384,001 385,001 386,001 387,001 388,001 389,001
390,001 391,001 392,001 393,001 394,001 395,001 396,001 397,001 398,001 399,001

Meanings from 400,001 to 500,000

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400,001 401,001 402,001 403,001 404,001 405,001 406,001 407,001 408,001 409,001
410,001 411,001 412,001 413,001 414,001 415,001 416,001 417,001 418,001 419,001
420,001 421,001 422,001 423,001 424,001 425,001 426,001 427,001 428,001 429,001
430,001 431,001 432,001 433,001 434,001 435,001 436,001 437,001 438,001 439,001
440,001 441,001 442,001 443,001 444,001 445,001 446,001 447,001 448,001 449,001
450,001 451,001 452,001 453,001 454,001 455,001 456,001 457,001 458,001 459,001
460,001 461,001 462,001 463,001 464,001 465,001 466,001 467,001 468,001 469,001
470,001 471,001 472,001 473,001 474,001 475,001 476,001 477,001 478,001 479,001
480,001 481,001 482,001 483,001 484,001 485,001 486,001 487,001 488,001 489,001
490,001 491,001 492,001 493,001 494,001 495,001 496,001 497,001 498,001 499,001

Meanings from 500,001 to 600,000

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500,001 501,001 502,001 503,001 504,001 505,001 506,001 507,001 508,001 509,001
510,001 511,001 512,001 513,001 514,001 515,001 516,001 517,001 518,001 519,001
520,001 521,001 522,001 523,001 524,001 525,001 526,001 527,001 528,001 529,001
530,001 531,001 532,001 533,001 534,001 535,001 536,001 537,001 538,001 539,001
540,001 541,001 542,001 543,001 544,001 545,001 546,001 547,001 548,001 549,001
550,001 551,001 552,001 553,001 554,001 555,001 556,001 557,001 558,001 559,001
560,001 561,001 562,001 563,001 564,001 565,001 566,001 567,001 568,001 569,001
570,001 571,001 572,001 573,001 574,001 575,001 576,001 577,001 578,001 579,001
580,001 581,001 582,001 583,001 584,001 585,001 586,001 587,001 588,001 589,001
590,001 591,001 592,001 593,001 594,001 595,001 596,001 597,001 598,001 599,001

Meanings from 600,001 to 700,000

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600,001 601,001 602,001 603,001 604,001 605,001 606,001 607,001 608,001 609,001
610,001 611,001 612,001 613,001 614,001 615,001 616,001 617,001 618,001 619,001
620,001 621,001 622,001 623,001 624,001 625,001 626,001 627,001 628,001 629,001
630,001 631,001 632,001 633,001 634,001 635,001 636,001 637,001 638,001 639,001
640,001 641,001 642,001 643,001 644,001 645,001 646,001 647,001 648,001 649,001
650,001 651,001 652,001 653,001 654,001 655,001 656,001 657,001 658,001 659,001
660,001 661,001 662,001 663,001 664,001 665,001 666,001 667,001 668,001 669,001
670,001 671,001 672,001 673,001 674,001 675,001 676,001 677,001 678,001 679,001
680,001 681,001 682,001 683,001 684,001 685,001 686,001 687,001 688,001 689,001
690,001 691,001 692,001 693,001 694,001 695,001 696,001 697,001 698,001 699,001

Meanings from 700,001 to 800,000

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700,001 701,001 702,001 703,001 704,001 705,001 706,001 707,001 708,001 709,001
710,001 711,001 712,001 713,001 714,001 715,001 716,001 717,001 718,001 719,001
720,001 721,001 722,001 723,001 724,001 725,001 726,001 727,001 728,001 729,001
730,001 731,001 732,001 733,001 734,001 735,001 736,001 737,001 738,001 739,001
740,001 741,001 742,001 743,001 744,001 745,001 746,001 747,001 748,001 749,001
750,001 751,001 752,001 753,001 754,001 755,001 756,001 757,001 758,001 759,001
760,001 761,001 762,001 763,001 764,001 765,001 766,001 767,001 768,001 769,001
770,001 771,001 772,001 773,001 774,001 775,001 776,001 777,001 778,001 779,001
780,001 781,001 782,001 783,001 784,001 785,001 786,001 787,001 788,001 789,001
790,001 791,001 792,001 793,001 794,001 795,001 796,001 797,001 798,001 799,001

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "WGSBN Bulletin Archive". Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature. 10 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024. (Bulletin Volume 4, #8)
  2. ^ "Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000)". Minor Planet Center. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Minor Planet Naming Guidelines (Rules and Guidelines for naming non-cometary small Solar-System bodies) – v1.0" (PDF). Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (PDF). 20 December 2021.
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