Meanings of minor-planet names: 303001–304000

This is a partial list of meanings of minor-planet names. Also see list of named minor planets (alphabetical) for a condensed version without naming citations.

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]

303001–303100

Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
There are no named minor planets in this number range

303101–303200

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
There are no named minor planets in this number range

303201–303300

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
303265 Littmann	2004 RH111	Mark Littmann (born 1939), a professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Tennessee, where he holds the Julia G. & Alfred G. Hill Chair of Excellence in Science, Technology, and Medical Writing.	JPL · 303265

303301–303400

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
There are no named minor planets in this number range

303401–303500

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
There are no named minor planets in this number range

303501–303600

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
303546 Bourbaki	2005 FR	Nicolas Bourbaki, a collective pseudonym under which a group of mathematicians wrote several books on modern advanced mathematics.	JPL · 303546

303601–303700

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
303648 Mikszáth	2005 KC9	Kálmán Mikszáth (1847–1910), a Hungarian novelist and journalist.	JPL · 303648

303701–303800

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
303710 Velpeau	2005 PD17	Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau (1795–1867), a French anatomist and surgeon.	JPL · 303710

303801–303900

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
There are no named minor planets in this number range

303901–304000

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
303909 Tomknops	2005 TK170	Tom Knops (1978–2011), a pilot with Tyrolean Airways. The name was proposed by Sofie Delanoye and Jeroen Maes, friends of Belgian discoverer Peter De Cat	JPL · 303909

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References

1. "WGSBN Bulletin Archive". Working Group Small Body Nomenclature. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
2. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
3. "JPL – Solar System Dynamics: Discovery Circumstances". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
4. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
5. 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.
6. Herget, Paul (1968). The Names of the Minor Planets. Cincinnati, Ohio: Minor Planet Center, Cincinnati Observatory. OCLC 224288991.
7. "Guide to Minor Body Astrometry – When can I name my discovery?". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
8. "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.

Preceded by 302,001–303,000

Meanings of minor planet names List of minor planets: 303,001–304,000

Succeeded by 304,001–305,000