Minor Planets
Initially, the names given to minor planets followed the same pattern as the other planets: names from Greek or Roman myths, with a preference for female names. With the discovery in 1898 of the first body found to cross the orbit of Mars, a different choice was deemed appropriate, and 433 Eros was chosen. This started a pattern of female names for main-belt bodies and male names for those with unusual orbits.
Over the years as more and more discoveries have been made, this system was eventually recognized as being inadequate and a new one was devised. Currently, the main responsibility for designating and naming minor planets lies on the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature (CSBN). Minor planets are initially assigned provisional designations when observed, of the form "2001 KX76" (the first part is a year; the second part defines a sequential order of discovery within that year, see provisional designation for details). If enough sightings are obtained of the same minor planet to calculate an orbit, the object is assigned a sequential number - its 'designation' - and it can then be cited as, for instance, (28978) 2001 KX76.
After the designation is assigned, the discoverer is given an opportunity to propose a name, which, if it is accepted by the IAU, replaces the provisional designation. Thus for instance, (28978) 2001 KX76 was given the name Ixion and is now known as (28978) Ixion, which is often abridged to 28978 Ixion. The name becomes official after its publication in the Minor Planet Circular with a brief citation explaining its significance. This may be a few years after the initial sighting, or in the case of "lost" asteroids, it may take several decades before they are spotted again and finally assigned a designation. If a minor planet remains unnamed ten years after it has been given a designation, then the right to name it is given also to identifiers of the various apparitions of the object, to discoverers at apparitions other than the official one, to those whose observations contributed extensively to the orbit determination, or to representatives of the observatory at which the official discovery was made. The CSBN has the right to act on its own in naming a minor planet, which often happens when the number assigned to the body is an integral number of thousands.
In recent years automated search efforts such as LINEAR or LONEOS have discovered so many thousands of new asteroids that the Center for Small Body Nomenclature has officially limited naming to a maximum of two names per discoverer every two months. Thus, the overwhelming majority of asteroids currently discovered are not assigned formal names.
Under IAU rules, names must be pronounceable, preferably one word (such as Annefrank (5535 Annefrank)), although exceptions are possible (such as James Bond (9007 James Bond)), and since 1982 limited to a maximum length of sixteen characters, including spaces and hyphens. Letters with diacritics are accepted, although the diacritical marks are usually omitted in everyday usage. 4090 Říšehvězd is an asteroid with the most diacritics (four). Military and political leaders are unsuitable until they are dead for 100 years. Nowadays, names of pet animals are discouraged, but there are some from the past. Names after people, companies or products known only for success in business are not accepted, as well as citations that resemble advertising.
Whimsical names can be used for relatively ordinary asteroids (such as 26858 Misterrogers), but those belonging to certain dynamical groups are expected to follow more strictly defined naming schemes.
- Trojan asteroids (those that librate in 1:1 resonance with Jupiter) are named for heroes of the Trojan War. Asteroids at Lagrangian point L4 are named after Greek warriors (such as 588 Achilles) and asteroids at L5 after Trojans (such as 884 Priamus).
- Trans-Jovian minor planets crossing or approaching the orbit of a giant planet but not in a stabilizing resonance are named for centaurs (such as 2060 Chiron).
- Objects in Neptune's 3:2 mean-motion-reference resonance are given mythological names associated with the underworld (such as 90482 Orcus).
- Classical Kuiper belt objects are given mythological names associated with creation (such as 50000 Quaoar).
- Objects that approach or cross Earth's orbit are still given mythological names (such as 1862 Apollo), preferably male.
Read more about this topic: Astronomical Naming Conventions
Famous quotes containing the words minor and/or planets:
“There are acacias, a graceful species amusingly devitalized by sentimentality, this kind drooping its leaves with the grace of a young widow bowed in controllable grief, this one obscuring them with a smooth silver as of placid tears. They please, like the minor French novelists of the eighteenth century, by suggesting a universe in which nothing cuts deep.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)
“Why are all these dolls falling out of the sky?
Was there a father?
Or have the planets cut holes in their nets
and let our childhood out,
or are we the dolls themselves,
born but never fed?”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)