Meanings of minor planet names: 278001–279000

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]

278001–278100

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

278101–278200

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
278141 Tatooine	2007 CS₆₁	Tatooine is a desert planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. It is the home planet of Anakin and Luke Skywalker.	JPL · 278141
278197 Touvron	2007 EL₁₂	Guy Touvron (born 1950), a French Classical trumpet player and music teacher	JPL · 278197
278200 Olegpopov	2007 EV₂₆	Oleg Popov (1930–2016), a famous Russian circus artist	JPL · 278200

278201–278300

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
278225 Didierpelat	2007 EY₈₇	Didier Pelat (born 1948) is an astronomer at Paris Observatory, who has worked on spectroscopy and modelling of active galactic nuclei, hydrodynamics of accretion disks and stellar populations synthesis. He has also designed an iterative Bracewell interferometer extending the nulling effect to a large bandwidth.	JPL · 278225

278301–278400

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
278384 Mudanjiang	2007 MV₂₀	The Chinese city of Mudanjiang, located in the country's northernmost province of Heilongjiang	JPL · 278384
278386 Sofivanna	2007 NK₂	Twins Sofia and Ivanna (born 2007) are the grandchildren of Boris Romanyuk, Professor at the V. Ye. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.	JPL · 278386

278401–278500

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
278447 Saviano	2007 TH	Roberto Saviano (born 1979), an Italian journalist, writer and essayist	JPL · 278447

278501–278600

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
278513 Schwope	2008 CE₁₂₀	Axel Schwope (born 1959), a German astronomer at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics in Potsdam	JPL · 278513
278591 Salò	2008 NZ₃	The historic town of Salò on the western bank of Lake Garda in northern Italy	JPL · 278591

278601–278700

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
278609 Avrudenko	2008 PP₁₇	Anatoliy Viktorovych Rudenko (born 1955), a Ukrainian scientist and surgeon	JPL · 278609
278645 Kontsevych	2008 RQ₂₂	Yevgen Vasylyovych Kontsevych (1935–2010) was a Ukrainian novelist and short story writer. In his works he often compared people's relationships with the behavior of birds and wild animals, preferring communication with the latter, rather than with the deceptive and treacherous-by-nature humans.	JPL · 278645

278701–278800

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
278735 Kamioka	2008 SG₈₃	The Kamioka Observatory, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research is a neutrino physics laboratory located underground of the city of Hida in Gifu Prefecture, Japan.	JPL · 278735

278801–278900

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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

278901–279000

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
278956 Shei-Pa	2008 UZ₈₃	Shei-Pa National Park is located in the central part of Taiwan around the peaks of Hsuehshan and Dabajian Mountain, with an area of 76,850 hectares. There are 51 peaks over 3,000 meters high.	JPL · 278956
278986 Chenshuchu	2008 UQ₂₀₅	Chen Shu-chu, a vegetable vendor and philanthropist from Taitung in Eastern Taiwan	JPL · 278986

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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.

Preceded by 277,001–278,000	Meanings of minor planet names List of minor planets: 278,001–279,000	Succeeded by 279,001–280,000

[WGSBN-Bulletin-Archive-1] "WGSBN Bulletin Archive". Working Group Small Body Nomenclature. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.

[MPC-Circulars-Archive-2] "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 July 2016.

[JPL-Discovery-3] "JPL – Solar System Dynamics: Discovery Circumstances". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 June 2019.

[DoMPN-4] Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 27 July 2016.

[DoMPN-Addendum-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.

[Herget-6] Herget, Paul (1968). The Names of the Minor Planets. Cincinnati, Ohio: Minor Planet Center, Cincinnati Observatory. OCLC 224288991.

[MPC-Preannouncement-7] "Guide to Minor Body Astrometry – When can I name my discovery?". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 20 July 2019.

[WGSBN-Naming-Guidelines-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.

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