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.
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]
Christos Efthymiopoulos (born 1971) is Research Director at the Research Center for Astronomy of the Academy of Athens, and teaches Dynamical Astronomy at the Physics Department of the University of Athens.
All doctors, nurses and everyone else in the Italian healthcare system (Sanitari Italiani) who played an essential role in the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
Domenico Antonacci (born 1969), who has been involved in astronomy outreach for several years. He has been a pioneer for disabled people, in particular the blind. He founded the Associazione Cascinese Astrofili, and has been one of the founders and communicators at the astronomical observatory of Libbiano (PI), Italy.
Robert S. Verish (born 1947), an American meteor observer and meteorite hunter. He has found over 100 meteorites in California, Nevada and Arizona, including the "Los Angeles" Shergottite – the fourteenth recognized meteorite from Mars(also see Novato meteorite).
Francesca Balli (born 1969) fiancée of the discoverer Fabrizio Bernardi. She has been a lawyer since 1999 and is presently a civil and commercial mediator.
Jos Dianovich Claerbout (1974–1999), beloved son of Jon and Diane Claerbout, was an American writer, web engineer, film producer, and creator of magnificent hats. Src
Rubens de Azevedo (1921–2008) was a Brazilian astronomer and science promoter. He founded observatories and associations, including the Brazilian Society of Astronomy Friends, the first amateur astronomical association in Brazil. He was a selenographer and active participant in NASA's Lunar International Observers Network.
Jeff Kanipe (born 1953), an American astronomical author and editor, who became interested in a spike extending out of the image of Arp 192 = NGC 3303 while working on a publication for the fortieth anniversary of Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. This led to its recognition in 2009 as a prediscovery trail of this minor planet on 19 February 1964.
The Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on board the Cassini–Huygens spacecraft studied the Saturnian system for 13 years (2004–2017). It provided data to determine the composition, temperatures and structures of surfaces, rings and atmospheres.
The site of the Table Mountain Observatory in California was developed by the Smithsonian Institution in 1924 to conduct studies of the solar constant. In 1958 the Jet Propulsion Laboratory began solar panel tests at this site, now a NASA facility where atmospheric study groups and optical astronomy conduct daily science year round.
Doris McMillan (1909–1999) of San Benito, Texas, was a science educator with Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in the 1960s and influential to many amateur and professional astronomers, space scientists and educators.
Frigyes Karinthy (1887–1938) was a Hungarian author, playwright, poet, journalist and translator. His sense of humor and criticism already appeared in his early diaries. He started his writing career as a journalist and remained a writer of short, humorous blurbs until his death. He is one of the most popular Hungarian writers
The Morkoláb (or Markolaáb), Hungarian mythical animal that eats the Sun or Moon during an eclipse; this object was discovered during a total lunar eclipse
Oliver Sacks (1933–2015), a British neurologist and author. His descriptions of people confronting neurological challenges such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, together with his books about the brain, botany, chemistry and music, have inspired generations of doctors, patients and readers around the world.
Kenneth Dale Wilson (born 1954) is the former planetarium director with the Virginia Museum of Natural Sciences and a co-author of several books on amateur astronomy