Dictionary of Minor Planet Names: Addendum to Fifth Edition: 2003–2005

346 Pages·2006·2.47 MB·English

by  Lutz D. Schmadel (auth.)

DictionaryofMinorPlanetNames–Addendum
Minorplanet(25143)ItokawaasseenfromtheJapanesespacecraftHayabusa.Thesurface
ofthisEarth-crossingasteroidshowsnocratersandseemstocharacterizearubblepile
compositionratherthanasolidrock.Thediameterspansapproximately300m.Amean
density of 2.3 grams per cubic centimeter was derived. Computer simulations indicate
that(25143) Itokawa may impact the Earthwithin thenext few million years. (Courtesy
ISAS/JAXA)
Lutz D. Schmadel
Dictionary
of Minor Planet Names
Addendum to Fifth Edition: 2003–2005
PreparedonBehalfofCommisssion20
UndertheAuspices
oftheInternationalAstronomicalUnion
123
Dr.LutzD.Schmadel
AstronomischesRecheninstitut
Mönchhofstraße12-14
69120Heidelberg
Germany
e-mail:[email protected]
“ThisistheAddendumtoSchmadel,DictionaryofMinorPlanetNames,5thEdition,Springer(2003);
ISBN3-540-00238-3.”
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Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,etc.inthispublicationdoesnotimply,
evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsand
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Preface
Thehistoryanddevelopmentofminorplanetdiscover- newly published names from the period 2003–2005 as
iesconstituteafascinating storywith aratherbreath- wellascorrectionsandamendmentsofearliereditions.
taking evolution. By October 2005, the total of num- Thefundamentalstructureofthe“Dictionary”hasbeen
bered planets exceeded the remarkable cornerstone of leftunchanged. Asanewfeatureweaddedroughdata
100,000objects. Acomparisonwiththecorresponding of the orbital elements [a,e,i] for quick classification
numberscoveredinthefirstfiveeditionsofthisbook– purposes. Inadditiontocitingthebibliographicsource
5,012(Dec. 1991),5,655(Sept. 1993),7,041(June1996), ofthename,wenowalsoprovidethesourceofnumber-
10,666 (May 1999)and 52,224 (Dec. 2003)– yields the ing. A special concordance list will enable the evalua-
astonishingresultthatthematerialmorethandoubled tion of therespectivepublication dates. Thecomplete
duringthosethreeyears. Minorplanet(100000)wasan- work is, of course, a thoroughly revised and consider-
nounced in the October 2005 Minor Planet Circulars ablyenlargeddatacollection andeveryefforthasbeen
issued by the Minor Planet Center of Commission 20 made to check and correct each single piece of infor-
of the International Astronomical Union, and, at the mation again. For even more detailed information of
endof2005weareevenfacedwithplanet(120,437). Of thediscoverycircumstancesofnumberedbutunnamed
course, this dramatic evolution must be viewed in the planets,thereaderisreferredtotheextensivedatafiles
context of the huge time span of two centuries (1801- compiled by theMinor Planet Center.
2000) that was necessary to detect and to refine the
orbits of the first 20,000 planets. Nowadays, we need I owe a great debt of gratitude to Ingrid van Houten-
evenlessthan14monthsforthesamequantity! Atthe Groeneveld for her enthusiastic encouragement and to
end of 2005, we had achieved a total of 12,804 named Brian G. Marsden for his everlasting support of this
minor planets – a fraction of less than 11 per cent of commonprojectofallinterestedastronomers. Mygrat-
all numberedminor planets. itudeisalsoduetoWolfBeiglb¨ockandRamonKhanna
from the Springer-Verlag for their excellent coopera-
The inflationary growth of data in ever shorter time tion. According to a resolution of IAU Division III
intervals required a new publication strategy. With (2000 Manchester IAU General Assembly) DMPN at-
the fifth edition, therefore, we were forced to reduce tained the status of an official IAU publication. The
this Dictionary from a collection of all numbered ob- kindsupportbyIAUGeneral SecretaryOddbjørnEn-
jects to only those which have already been named. gvold is highly appreciated. Finally, I would like to
Thisclearing-outprocessisnowexactlyreflectedinthe thankagainmycolleagueGernotBurkhardtforhisin-
book’s title. The fifth edition serves as the basic sur- defatigablesupportwiththeextensiveTEXprocessing.
vey,whichisupdatedbythisaddendum. Itcontainsall
Heidelberg, March 2006 Lutz D. Schmadel
Foreword
to the Fifth Edition
People love to name things. Parents name their chil- (or, in the original Arabic, ''A1 Harris a1 Simak). Now-
dren. Children name their pets. Why? Otherwise ra- adays, stars are named, for a fee, and with no obvious
tional human beings put an inordinate effort into this benefit to astronomy, by "The International Star Reg-
naming activity. Some names are selected to remind istry" (ISR). After their children have left the roost,
the namer of some other person, place or event. In and their children's pets have been buried 'neath the
other instances, the choice of a name means something apple tree, ordinary people with money to burn can
that "sounds good", or is easily spelled. "What's the still name stars. The International Astronomical Union
baby's name?" is much more likely to be asked than UAU) takes a dim view of the ISR, and the ISR takes
some question about its state of health, its weight or advantage of human irrationality. Astronomers, trained
the color of its eyes. People are often named accord- to cultivate at least an air of rationality, nowadays give
ing to religious tradition, exemplified in the custom, in to the objects of their quests more useful labels like
some countries, of speaking of a "Christian" name. In "Alpha Bootis", PPM 130442, BD +1g02777,
other countries, it is a "given" name, often the name PSR 1257-12 B and GRO 51744-28.
of some favored relative, particularly a father, as in
the system of patronymics. In some parts of the world But in the solar system, names still - so to speak -
have a place. Galileo knew what he was about when
a name may be more practical, making it clear that
he referred to the "Medician Stars", as did Herschel
this person is "number one son", for example. But in
with "Georgium Sidus". A broader, more traditional
such a case, why not simply give numbers to the chil-
view won out, however, and Piazzi's "Ferdinandea" ap-
dren in order of their birth? One might presume that
pendix was soon dropped from his choice of a name
other animals number their children: take one away,
for the small planet he discovered between Mars and
and the mother will realize that the count is wrong,
Jupiter. But when it was established that Ceres was
possibly even to the point of knowing precisely which
not alone, the practice of acknowledging each new dis-
infant has been removed.
covery with the name of a goddess somehow seemed
The most basic part of speech is a "noun", a word that appropriate and international - at least for discoveries
itself means "name", particularly in its dominant use made in different parts of Europe and with the god-
as the subject, i.e., in the "nominative case". Com- dess names from the "classical" tradition. But nation-
munication is essential to an intelligent species, and alist squabbles quickly arose, and soon the supply of
the human race simply would not have advanced if it names of classical goddesses was exhausted. Other tra-
didn't have, in its numerous languages, generic words ditions were tapped, more general female names were
for "tree", "bird", "food", "rock", "star" and "com- used, and the discoverers started concocting feminiza-
puter". One clearly also needs to be specific, introduc- tions of other names and words. At the same time, the
ing further nouns in each of these categories, such as objects were simply given sequential numbers. The
"apple", "kookaburra", "apple", "punk", "quasar" and advent of photography also brought systems of pro-
"apple". But where does that specificity end? Should visional designations, the use of which greatly facili-
every individual member of a species, type or class end tated the bookkeeping of linking together independent
up with an obscure number or alphanumeric designa- discoveries of the same object, which could then re-
tion? Or should it have a name or descriptor like "The ceive a sequential number. And still the minor plan-
One that Fell Down in the Hurricane Last Week", "The ets also received names. In a few cases, the names
Very Noisy One that Somehow Found its Way into Our were inspired mnemonically by the provisional desig-
Barbecue", "The 10-Meter Cake", "Hope Diamond", nations; and in a few other cases, particular classes of
"Arcturus" and, well, "Arcturus" . names were applied to members of particular dynami-
cal classes of minor planets. One could say that such
Astronomers named stars - and groupings of stars - names were helpful. Even when there was no obvious
long ago. There were truly imaginative names for Arc- connection, to have both a name and a number could
turus that translate into English as phrases like "Leg provide some useful redundancy when typographical
of the Lance Bearer", "Patriarch Mentor of the Train" errors occurred. From time to time, a few astronomers
Foreword to the Fifth Edition vii
would deprecate the naming practice, but it prevailed, this number was in fact assigned already at the begin-
with the various monikers proposed by the discoverers ning of 2001 - to the then second-largest independent
being adopted essentially automatically. Perhaps un- object in the transneptunian belt, 2000 WRlos, named
like their colleagues in the star and galaxy businesses, Varuna. Since then the doubling period has shortened
planetary astronomers do evidently cultivate that air to less than 18 months, with the latest second-place
of irrationality common to the general population. transneptunian object, 2002 LMso, becoming (50000)
Quaoar late in 2002.
Which are my own particular favorites among the
names of minor planets? Certainly, I like the ones
Anticipating the surge of activity that began in the
where there is some particular "connection" between
late 1970s, with many more professional and amateur
planet and name. Some discoverers have their lists of
astronomers entering the field, some members of Com-
numberings and the lists of the names they want to use.
mission 20 felt that oversight of the names being pro-
As each new numbering comes along, they simply apply
posed was desirable. So a committee of three was
the next name on the list, whatever interesting charac- formed ... It grew to a committee of seven, and in 1994
teristics the object may have. Most proposers of names
it became the nine-member Small Bodies Names Com-
could usefully learn from Paul Wild, veteran Swiss dis-
mittee, also taking on the responsibility for naming
coverer of minor planets: he gave to the minor planet
comets. In 1997 the membership increased to 11, and
with provisional designation 1968 HB the name "Swiss-
the Committee was directly attached to IAU Division
air", HB being the international designator for that
111, in which Commission 20 was one of six IAU com-
airline now defunct); and the WK in another provi-
missions. In 2000 the committee's name was inverted
sional designation reminded him of the Swiss-German
to Committee on Small Bodies Nomenclature, and the
word for annual military exercises, a grueling maneu-
members hi^ was increased to 13. Those discoverers
ver through the Alps and - "Hannibal". He gave the
whose pet names have been rejected might not agree,
name "Cucula" to a rare discovery in May, the month
but the SBNC has good international representation
when the cuckoos call incessantly in the woods near
and has generally acted in a fair and effective manner.
his observatory; and the name "Tripaxeptalis" went to
The main difficulties arise with names considered "too
minor planet (20371, because 2037 = 3x679 = 7x291
nearly similar" to others, although a precise definition
- and given (679) Pax and (291) Alice. If one wants of what is meant by this has so far been elusive.
to name a minor planet for the twelfth-century mathe-
matician Fibonacci, the least he can do is ensure that
its number is a number in the Fibonacci sequence: so Quite as impressive has been the progression of provi-
this name was therefore given recently to minor planet sional designations. The modern system of these des-
(6765). ignations was introduced in 1925 with the idea that
a simple sequence of letters could be used each half-
When the Minor Planet Center was established in 1947, month, it being considered unlikely that there would
the numbering of minor planets extended to (1564). At be more than 25 new discoveries in any such interval.
a meeting of IAU Commission 20 in 1952 it was re- The first complement of 25 was already achieved in
marked that to reach (3000) would represent a lLrea- the second half of April 1926 with the assignment of
sonable upper limit". When (3000) was finally reached, 1926 GZ (the letters I and J being considered the same).
in 1984, that remark had clearly been forgotten, and Then, in the second half of February 1928 (well, it was
further doubling could be expected in about a decade. a leap year), a 26th discovery was accommodated in
When the first edition of the Dictionary of Minor Planet the form 1928 DA1 and a 30th as 1928 DE1. (The
Names was prepared, in late 1991, (5000) had just been utility of the system is that further designations can
numbered. It was then a foregone conclusion that be added at any time, and these two halfmonths cur-
(10000) would be reached around the end of the century. rently terminate with 1926 GF1 and 1928 DK1.) The
That milestone was in fact reached as early as March 58 designations, extending to 1931 TH2, remained a
1999, a little more than 198 years after Piazzi first special accomplishment for a long time, particularly
sighted Ceres. Although the suggestion had been made when the examination of plates obtained in the con-
that the number (10000) should be accorded to Pluto, tinuation of the Pluto search at the Lowell Observa-
as the first member of the transneptunian belt bearing tory a few years later took this sequence to 1931 TJ4;
some affinity to (1) Ceres as the first member of the at present, it runs to 1931 TR4, not superseded until
cisjovian belt, objections were raised, and (10000) was 1950 TU4. The next record was 1969 TG8, and dou-
instead named "Myriostos" , Greek for ten-thousandth. ble digits were reached for the first time three years
The first member of the transneptunian belt to be num- later with what now stands at 1972 TEll, i.e., a to-
bered was therefore 1992 QB1 (the first of the more re- tal of 280 discoveries. Of course, these advances are
cent transneptunian discoveries) as (157601, but it has quite artificial, because 1972 also saw the publication
not yet been named. And although there were pre- of the Palomar-Leiden survey; the latter did not in
dictions that (20000) would not come along until 2004, fact utilize the system of provisional designations, but
...
Foreword to the Fifth Edition
vlll
had it done so, there would have been designations ex- ensuring that they are concise and well written and -
tending to something like 1960 SRs3 - a total of 2092 yes - interesting to read. Since 1999 the citations have
objects not surpassed until the second half of March in fact been restricted to four printed lines in the Mi-
1993, when the designations reached 1993 FUs4 That nor Planet Circulars. Relatively few astronomers seem
record remained only until 1998, when the subscripts to have developed the art of writing a good citation. It
first reached three digits, new peaks of 1998 FNl4~, should not be a "potted biography" or a "travelogue".
1998 HC15s and 1998 SMl7l. The next year saw It should be something that arrests the attention of
1999 RH25s and 1999 TE32s, and the current record is the reader, perhaps by pointing out some unusual fact
2000 SE3i'% about the person or place being honored, or why this
particular object is being selected to have that name.
In the first two editions of this Dictionary, more than 80
International Asteroid Registry or no, the prognosis is
percent of the then-numbered minor planets had been
that the IAU will accept fewer names for minor planets
named. In the third and fourth editions the fractions
in the future. The CSBN has already carried out ex-
had dropped to 75 and 63 percent, respectively. But
periments by voting only among the union of the names
now, for the fifth edition, the fraction is only 20 per-
initially selected by the individual members from those
cent! In November 2002, when the numberings reached
submitted by discoverers during a two-month period, in
(50000),t he namings for the first time surpassed 10,000!
the hope that only the "best" names would thereby be
That is the reason for the publication of the fifth edi-
tion of the DMPN at this time. And, understandably adopted ... The drawback - to discoverers - is that this
would tend to discriminate against names of personal
in terms of space, this edition restricts itself to doc-
significance to them. Another suggestion has been not
umenting just those minor planets that actually have
to name intrinsically faint minor planets unless they
names.
have some special dynamical or physical characteris-
This tailing off in the naming rate has been inevitable. tics. The CSBN is currently examining a combination
Indeed, some have suggested - and not for the first of procedures that could reasonably address perceived
time - that this curious practice of naming minor plan- unfairness.
ets should be stopped. Others think that, as long as a
sizable fraction of the discoverers want to name their As with the earlier editions, the principal responsibil-
finds, it is still reasonable and appropriate to recognize ity for this volume rests with Lutz Schmadel, who has
their industry in this manner. The danger is, of course, done a superb job putting together a truly authorita-
that future names will become more and more trivial. tive piece of work. It is not just a catalogue or dic-
Yet if the naming is not done by the IAU, in a gen- tionary in the usual sense. One can in fact read the
eral cooperation with the discoverers, some "Interna- book like a novel, from beginning to end. In so doing,
tional Asteroid Registry" will surely appear somewhere one could certainly draw some conclusions about the
to carry out the task - undoubtedly for a hefty fee. Not psychology of astronomers. One can also learn a great
all the minor planets need to be named, they certainly deal about the world and its customs. The book is
don't have to be named immediately, and the tailing also a marvelous source of information about mythol-
off is not necessarily such a bad thing. The main prob- ogy, classical and otherwise.
lem is in fact the preparation of the citations, and in
Cambridge, MA, January 2003 Brian G. Marsden
Director
IAU Minor Planet Center
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Introduction
IntroductoryRemarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Minor Planet Designations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Evolution of Naming Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Information Content of the Catalogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Statistics and Classification of the Names . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Sources of Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Catalogue of Minor Planet Names
and Discovery Circumstances . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Appendices
Discoverers in Alphabetical Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Discoverers RankingList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Corporate Discoveries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Nobel Laureates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
IAUOfficers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Minor Planet Names with UnknownMeaning . . . . . . . . . 257
Publication datesof theMPCs and MPOs . . . . . . . . . . 261
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Index of Minor Planet Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Introduction
Introductory Remarks
chanics prosper to the extent that it is now applied
The introduction to previous editions of the “Dictio- in many very different branches of science. The entire
nary”startedwithstatementsdeeplyinfluencedbythe secondhalfofthenineteenthcenturywascharacterized
breathtakingevolutionofminorplanetastronomydur- by intensive observational and numerical work on mi-
ing the last decade. These sentences, characterized by norplanets. Astheimportanceof thisfielddecreased,
a tone of disbelief and astonishment about the explo- the process of name giving changed in a very obvious
sivedynamismofthisfield,holdmoretodaythanever: way. Mystification changedtoprofanation. Theprevi-
“In a period when discoveries flourish, more and more ously dramatic and rare discovery of new members of
minorplanetsarebeingdiscovered;itisinevitablethat ourSolarSystemchangedtothefindingofeverfainter
this dictionary can be no more than an inventory of and smaller objects in large numbers. These changes
the situation at this moment. A compilation of this were reflected in the nomenclature of minor planets.
nature is by definition bound to be out of date before
Interest in questions of nomenclature originated not
it appears in print. There are, however, two reasons
only from the perspective of cultural history but also
that justify this effort. After having numbered and
named the 10000th minor planet, a historic goal was from a very pragmatic consideration. The large num-
berof newdiscoveries madeit moreandmoredifficult
achieved. Itseemsreasonable toavailourselvesof this
to give a newly numbered planet an adequate name.
opportunitytosummarizeaninterestingaspectofthis
Recentlythesamenamewasgiventotwodifferentmi-
narrow branch of astronomy during the past two cen-
norplanets;anoversightthatwaspromptlycorrected.
turies. The second reason is purely pragmatic: this
The Minor Planet Names Committee (MPNC) of the
seems to be the last chance to handle the enormous
IAUCommission 20wasfoundedandin1994enlarged
amount of minor-planet data in one volume.” The ac-
to the Small Bodies Names Committee (SBNC), and
tualdimensions,however,assumedhorrendouspropor-
again renamed in 1997 to Committee on Small Bodies
tions. Triggered by gigantically successful automated
Nomenclature (CSBN)in order to study the proposals
CCDsurveysandtheestablishmentofevenmorepow-
for names (of minor planets and comets)and to inves-
erfulcomputingfacilitiescombinedwiththededication
tigate whether the suggested names do not resemble
oftheirusers,thesituationchangeddramaticallyanew.
too strongly any other names previously assigned – a
Theuseoftheterm“historic,”therefore,shouldbere-
work that is not always easy to manage! Discoverers
considered.
of minor planets might also find this book useful. On
Compared with the figures in the first edition of the the other hand, they will still have to seek advice in
“Dictionary”in1992,thenumberofminorplanetshas the literature of classical antiquity if, for instance, a
increased by a whole order of magnitude! Obviously, newly discovered Trojan is to be named. Some people
this greatly influences our editorial policy. Whereas havealready hadtheawkward vision ofa‘first Trojan
previouseditionscompiledthediscoverydataofallal- soldier’, ‘second Trojan soldier’, etc. Wecan but hope
readynumbered planets,wearenowforcedtogoback that this will not become customary!
to the roots, i.e., we must limit ourselves to the com-
Themultitudeofnewlydiscoverednewclassesofminor
pilation of all named asteroids in order to fulfill the
planets forced astronomers to look for generic names
book’s title.
liketheTrojanexample. Muchturmoildevelopedfrom
At first glance, this book is simply a compilation of thediscoveryofmanymembersoftheTransneptunian
data. For the historians of our science, however, the (or Kuiper) Belt. In view of this situation the pro-
naming of an object is a complex and revealing mat- posal toincorporate Planet X,betterknownas planet
ter. Piazzi’s discovery of Ceres was the beginning of Pluto, into this new class by assigning it the number
an absolutely new branch of science that gave an ex- (10000) produced fierce debates. Overwhelmingly, the
traordinary impulse to the development of mathemat- astronomical community voted in favor of this change
ical tools for astronomy. The brilliant work in the pe- but the proposal was rejected by the IAU Secretariat.
riodbetween Gauss and Poincar´emadecelestialme- Nevertheless, some Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) were