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]
Italian brothers Giuseppe (b. 1970) and Gianfranco (b. 1972) Losignore did their utmost to collect the fragments of the meteorite that fell on their property in the suburbs of Matera on 2023 February 14.
Thomas J. Spitzer (born 1957) was the Electrical Power Systems Engineer on more than a dozen Goddard missions, including the highly successful Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that re-mapped the moon, as well as the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample-return mission.
Craig L. Stevens (born 1978) is the Project Verification Systems Engineer for the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample-return mission. Prior to serving in this role, he participated in the development of flight systems for several NASA missions including JWST, MESSENGER, GPM, New Horizons, LRO, LADEE and Landsat 8.
June Tveekrem (born 1960) contributed to the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample-return mission as an optical engineer. As an expert in optical modeling and analysis, she performed stray light analyses for OVIRS and sun glint analyses for the overall OSIRIS-REx mission.
Andrew "Andy" S. Kulessa (born 1960) is an Australian scientist who is an expert on tropospheric propagation phenomena, and of micro- and meso-scale meteorological effects on electronic communications. He is an active researcher in astrophysical phenomena, stellar/galactic dynamics, and characteristics of variable stars.
Rodolfo Neri Vela (born 1952) is the first Mexican person to travel to space. In 1985, he was a payload specialist on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. During the flight, he conducted experiments, including many on the subject of human physiology.
