How are asteroids named? Naming conventions for asteroid naming

Generally, the International Committee on the Nomenclature of Small Bodies named the asteroid with the number 8615 after important people and events, such as the asteroid numbered 8615 is named "Bajin".

Some asteroids are named after people.

Once an asteroid is named, it will be announced by the International Minor Planet Association to various astronomical organizations and become an international permanent name. Its naming conventions are:

1.The naming respects the proposal of the asteroid discoverer, and even the discoverer can apply to name various animals.

2.Generally, naming is only given to individuals or groups who have made outstanding contributions in a certain field.

3.Place names and events can also be named, such as the Beijing Olympic Star and the Shenzhou Star.

4.A politician, military figure, or political or military event must be named after his death or 100 years after his death.

The first asteroid in history to bear a name was discovered in Sicily in 1801 by Piazzi, an Italian Catholic thiettian monk, mathematician and astronomer. The asteroid was named "Ceres". Ceres is the god in Roman mythology who rules plants.

Piazzi originally proposed to name Ferdinand III in his honor, but the name was abandoned because it was unacceptable to people from other countries.

In early asteroid naming, asteroids were named after characters from Greek or Roman mythology. For example, the second asteroid "Homo sapiens", the third asteroid "Marriage", the fourth asteroid "Vesta", etc. These asteroids are also given symbols separately, just as the sun and planets are given symbols.

Later, as asteroids were discovered more and more, the naming began to be arbitrary. Some people directly name the asteroid after their pet. Before 1971, this did not cause much controversy.

But when an asteroid discoverer named asteroid 2309 "Mr."

spock" (which was the name of one of his pet cats), and the International Astronomical Union had to introduce rules discouraged the use of animal names to name asteroids. However, all sorts of quirky names, such as "James Bond" and "Zero", were later used by the discoverers to name asteroids. Asteroid.

01 A new asteroid has been discovered; Asteroids receive a "tentative number" consisting of year, letters, and numbers; If the asteroid can be observed at least twice, the orbit can be accurately determined; After the orbit was determined with sufficient precision, the asteroid received an official numerical number, and the discoverer requested a name; The nomenclature application was officially used by the International Astronomical Union.

Of all the celestial bodies, only an asteroid can be named at the suggestion of its discoverer and ultimately recognized by the world. The naming process of asteroids is like the naming process of our ants giving names to their newborn kittens (see the table below).

For example, the Purple Mountain Observatory discovered an asteroid in 1955, first notified to the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union, and received the provisional designation 1955DA, and then after 20 years of efforts, it observed two other returns in 1965 and 1975, and also received the provisional designation 1965YN and 1975SD respectively. When its orbit was accurately measured, it received an official designation: 2197. The Purple Mountain Observatory submitted a naming application and a description to the International Astronomical Union's Committee on the Nomenclature of Small Objects to request that it be named "Shanghai".

The committee is made up of 15 astronomers from all over the world, and the name application must be unanimously approved by their unanimous vote. After the naming application was approved, it was published in the "Minor Planet Bulletin" issued monthly by the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union, so that the name of the asteroid 2197 "Shanghai" star was officially confirmed by the world. The first asteroid named by the Chinese according to this procedure was the "Zhonghua" star discovered by astronomer Zhang Yuzhe in 1928, numbered 1125.

1. An asteroid is currently the only celestial body that can be nominated according to the will of the discoverer and approved by international organizations to be internationally recognized. Due to the seriousness, uniqueness and permanent immutability of asteroid naming, it has become a special honor recognized by the world to be able to obtain asteroid naming.

2. The name of an asteroid consists of two parts: the first part is a permanent number, and the second part is a name. The naming rights for asteroids now generally belong to the discoverer.

The International Commission on Asteroid Nomenclature generally names asteroids based on the hands of the discoverer. All asteroid names must be submitted to the International Minor Planet Center and the Minor Planet Nomenclature Committee for deliberation and approval before they are published in the world to become the permanent name of the object. In the early days, the naming of asteroids mostly selected characters from ancient myths and stories, and later the naming of most asteroids became a memorial to a specific person, place, organization or event.

3. There are more than 100 asteroids named by China's outstanding figures, Chinese place names and China's famous units, such as famous physicists Yang Zhenning, Li Zhengdao, Zhou Guangzhao, Qian Xuesen, Beijing Star, Guangdong Star, Hope Project Star, Chinese Academy of Sciences Star, etc. In addition, amateur astronomers Gao Xing, Sun Guoyou, Xu Zhijian, Ruan Jiangao, Chen Donghua, Ye Peiyu, a teacher at the Second High School Affiliated to East China Normal University, Meng Huan, a middle school student in Beijing, and Hua Yan, a middle school student in Nanjing, have also become the names of asteroids.