Minor Planet - Naming

Naming

Main article: Astronomical naming conventions for Minor planets See also: Pronunciation of asteroid names and Pronunciation of Trojan asteroids

A newly discovered minor planet is given a provisional designation (such as 2002 AT4) consisting of the year of discovery and an alphanumeric code indicating the half-month of discovery and the sequence within that half-month. Once an asteroid's orbit has been confirmed, it is given a number, and later may also be given a name (e.g. 433 Eros). The formal naming convention uses parentheses around the number, but dropping the parentheses is quite common. Informally, it is common to drop the number altogether, or to drop it after the first mention when a name is repeated in running text.

Minor planets that have been given a number but not a name keep their provisional designation, e.g. (29075) 1950 DA. As modern discovery techniques are finding vast numbers of new asteroids, they are increasingly being left unnamed. The earliest discovered to be left unnamed was for a long time (3360) 1981 VA, now 3360 Syrinx; as of September 2008, this distinction is held by (3708) 1974 FV1. On rare occasions, a small object's provisional designation may become used as a name in itself: the still unnamed (15760) 1992 QB1 gave its "name" to a group of Kuiper belt objects which became known as cubewanos.

A few objects are cross-listed as both comets and asteroids, such as 4015 Wilson–Harrington, which is also listed as 107P/Wilson–Harrington.

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Famous quotes containing the word naming:

    “The night is itself sleep
    And what goes on in it, the naming of the wind,
    Our notes to each other, always repeated, always the same.”
    —John Ashbery (b. 1927)

    “Husband,
    who am I to reject the naming of foods
    in a time of famine?”
    —Anne Sexton (1928–1974)

    “See, see where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament!
    One drop would save my soul—half a drop! ah, my Christ!—
    Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!—
    Yet will I call on him!—O, spare me, Lucifer!—
    Where is it now? ‘T is gone; and see where God
    Stretcheth out his arm, and bends his ireful brows!—
    Mountains and hills, come, come and fall on me,
    And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!”
    —Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)