Meanings of minor-planet names: 55001–56000
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]
55001–55100
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55082 Xlendi | 2001 QJ110 | Xlendi, Gozo, Malta † | MPC · 55082 |
55101–55200
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55108 Beamueller | 2001 QU142 | Beatrice E. A. Mueller, American astronomer | JPL · 55108 |
| 55112 Mariangela | 2001 QQ153 | Maria Angels Gassol i Avante, wife of the discoverer | JPL · 55112 |
| 55196 Marchini | 2001 RM16 | Alessandro Marchini, Italian computer scientist, astronomy popularizer, and director of the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Siena | JPL · 55196 |
55201–55300
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55212 Yukitoayatsuji | 2001 RG46 | Yukito Ayatsuji is the pen name of Naoyuki Uchida (born 1960), a Japanese writer of horror and mystery. He is one of the founders of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan. He was one of the two winners of the 1992 Mystery Writers of Japan Award. His best-known works are The Decagon House Murders and Another. | JPL · 55212 |
| 55221 Nancynoblitt | 2001 RM63 | Nancy Noblitt, a friend and loyal supporter of the Rose-Hulman Oakley Observatory (the discovery site) | JPL · 55221 |
| 55222 Makotoshinkai | 2001 RP63 | Makoto Shinkai, born Makoto Niitsu (born 1973), is a Japanese author, manga artist, cinematographer, director and producer. His anime credits include Your Name, Weathering With You, 5 Centimeters Per Second, The Garden of Words and Children Who Chase Lost Voices. | JPL · 55222 |
| 55223 Akiraifukube | 2001 RQ63 | Akira Ifukube (1914–2006) was a Japanese composer of film scores and classical music. He is best known for the music for the 1954 movie Gojira, also known in the West as Godzilla. | JPL · 55223 |
| 55276 Kenlarner | 2001 SK10 | Ken Larner, American exploration geophysicist † | MPC · 55276 |
55301–55400
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55319 Takanashi | 2001 SK73 | Yasuharu Takanashi (born 1963) is a composer of music for video games and anime. Some of the films he has produced scores for include Shiki, Ikki Tousen, Naruto Shippuden, Fairy Tail and Sailor Moon Crystal. | JPL · 55319 |
| 55320 Busler | 2001 SL73 | William J. Busler (born 1944) has had a long and distinguished career as a researcher and teacher in the field of biochemistry. He has also been a planetarium director and has had a lifelong love for teaching fellow amateur astronomers about the universe. | JPL · 55320 |
| 55331 Putzi | 2001 SY115 | Antonie ("Putzi") T. Schwartz, American mother, artist and holistic health practitioner | JPL · 55331 |
| 55381 Lautakwah | 2001 SX264 | Andy Lau (born 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and film producer. Lau was entered into the Guinness World Records for the `Most Awards Won by a Cantopop Male Artist' with a total unprecedented 292 awards won by year 2000. In 1999, he was also awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World. | JPL · 55381 |
| 55382 Kootinlok | 2001 SS265 | Louis Koo (born 1970) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He started his career in television and won TVB's Best Actor award in both 1999 and 2001. Koo is one of the most popular and talented actors of the Hong Kong film industry. He is also a low-key donor who had helped build close to 100 schools in China. | JPL · 55382 |
| 55383 Cheungkwokwing | 2001 SX266 | Leslie Cheung (1956–2003) was a leading Hong Kong singer and actor, with charisma comparable to James Dean. Cheung won the 1991 Hong Kong Film Award for best actor. | JPL · 55383 |
| 55384 Muiyimfong | 2001 SQ267 | Anita Mui (1963–2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made great contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honors. She remained an idol throughout most of her career, and was generally regarded as a Cantopop diva. | JPL · 55384 |
| 55397 Hackman | 2001 SY288 | Gene Hackman (born 1930) is an American actor and novelist. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1971 movie The French Connection and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the 1992 movie Unforgiven. With Daniel Lenihan, he has written three historical fiction novels and also two solo novels. | JPL · 55397 |
55401–55500
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55418 Bianciardi | 2001 TJ17 | Giorgio Bianciardi, researcher at the University of Siena | JPL · 55418 |
| 55428 Cappellaro | 2001 TN47 | Enrico Cappellaro, Italian chief astronomer of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (National Institute for Astrophysics) and director of the Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (Padua Astronomical Observatory) | JPL · 55428 |
| 55477 Soroban | 2001 UC1 | Soroban, the Japanese abacus † ‡ | MPC · 55477 |
55501–55600
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55543 Nemeghaire | 2001 XN16 | Jean Nemeghaire, Belgian assistant at the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, the discoverer's physics teacher | JPL · 55543 |
| 55555 DNA | 2001 YR2 | DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid | JPL · 55555 |
| 55559 Briancraine | 2001 YS110 | Brian L. Craine (born 1951) is molecular biologist, physician and inventor. He has been an active research scientist for over 45 years, and holds multiple patents for medical devices and innovative biotechnology protocols. He has also made significant contributions to the discovery and characterization of variable stars. | JPL · 55559 |
| 55561 Madenberg | 2002 AF9 | Janet A. Stevens, née Madenberg, American amateur astronomer † | MPC · 55561 |
| 55576 Amycus | 2002 GB10 | The centaur Amycus, son of Ophion, who attended Pirithous' wedding, fought against the Lapiths, and was killed by Pelates of Pella | JPL · 55576 |
55601–55700
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55676 Klythios | 3034 T-1 | Klythios (Clytius), one of the Elders of Troy (Iliad, Book III) | JPL · 55676 |
| 55678 Lampos | 3291 T-1 | Lampos or Lampus, son of Laomedon, one of the Elders of the city of Troy, father of Dolops | JPL · 55678 |
55701–55800
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55701 Ukalegon | 1193 T-3 | Ucalegon, one of the Elders of Troy, whose house was set on fire by the Achaeans when they sacked the city | JPL · 55701 |
| 55702 Thymoitos | 1302 T-3 | Thymoetes (Thymoitos), son of Laomedon, one of the Elders of the city of Troy, and the first to urge that the Trojan Horse be brought into the city | JPL · 55702 |
| 55720 Daandehoop | 1972 RE | Daniël "Daan" de Hoop (born 1945), honorary member and chairman of the Dutch Association for Spaceflight (1995–2005) | JPL · 55720 |
| 55733 Lepsius | 1986 WS2 | Karl Richard Lepsius, German egyptologist | JPL · 55733 |
| 55735 Magdeburg | 1987 QV | Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany | JPL · 55735 |
| 55737 Coquimbo | 1988 CQ1 | The Chilean city of Coquimbo, the capital of the Elqui province, located on the Pan American Highway. The natural harbor in Coquimbo was taken over by Pedro de Valdivia in 1550, together with the gold and copper industry in the region. | JPL · 55737 |
| 55749 Eulenspiegel | 1991 AT2 | Till Eulenspiegel, 14th-century character of Middle Low German oral tradition | JPL · 55749 |
| 55753 Raman | 1991 RF5 | Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, Indian physicist | JPL · 55753 |
| 55755 Blythe | 1991 TB15 | Blythe Andra Lowe, Canadian geologist and the discoverer's wife † | MPC · 55755 |
| 55759 Erdmannsdorff | 1991 XJ1 | Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Erdmannsdorff, German architect | JPL · 55759 |
| 55772 Loder | 1992 YB5 | Justus Christian Loder, German anatomist | JPL · 55772 |
55801–55900
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55810 Fabiofazio | 1994 TC | Fabio Fazio, broadcaster at RAI, the Italian public service | JPL · 55810 |
| 55815 Melindakim | 1994 YU2 | Melinda Kim Dowling, née Steel, the discoverer's younger sister | JPL · 55815 |
| 55838 Hagongda | 1996 LN | The Harbin Institute of Technology, a key national university in China | JPL · 55838 |
| 55844 Bičák | 1996 RN2 | Jirí Bicák, Czech professor of theoretical physics at Charles University in Prague | JPL · 55844 |
| 55854 Stoppani | 1996 VS1 | In 1905 Eugenio Stoppani (1850–1917) erected a mountain refuge, now the site of the Sormano Observatory, in the place where his father Edoardo Stoppani (1818– 1892) died accidentally. Antonio Stoppani (1824–1891) (probably a distant relative) was a distinguished palaeontologist. | JPL · 55854 |
| 55873 Shiomidake | 1997 UP7 | Shiomidake mountain, in northern Shizuoka, Japan | JPL · 55873 |
| 55874 Brlka | 1997 UL9 | Petr Brlka, Czech amateur astronomer †[permanent dead link] | MPC · 55874 |
| 55875 Hirohatagaoka | 1997 VH | Hirohatagaoka, a hill on which is located Hadano High School, from which the discoverer graduated † | MPC · 55875 |
| 55892 Fuzhougezhi | 1997 XQ5 | Fuzhou Gezhi High School, China, founded in 1846 | JPL · 55892 |
55901–56000
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55901 Xuaoao | 1998 CL2 | Xu Aoao (born 1940) is a solar-physics astronomer and educator. As Vice President of Nanjing University and President of the Macau University of Science and Technology, he made significant contributions to promoting the education and research of the universities. | JPL · 55901 |
| 56000 Mesopotamia | 1998 SN144 | Mesopotamia, cradle of human civilization | JPL · 56000 |
References
- ^ "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.