Meanings of minor planet names: 126001–127000

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]

126001–126100

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

126101–126200

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
126160 Fabienkuntz	2002 AF	Fabien Kuntz (born 1983), a French meteorite hunter and popular science writer from Besançon.	JPL · 126160
126177 Filippofrontera	2002 AP}12	Filippo Frontera (b. 1941), an Italian astrophysicist.	IAU · 126177
126183 Larrymitchell	2002 AS₁₈	Larry Mitchell (b. 1946), an American master visual astronomer.	IAU · 126183

126201–126300

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
126245 Kandókálmán	2002 AY₆₆	Kálmán Kandó (1869–1931), Hungarian engineer, one of the creators of the electric railway (the discovery occurred on his 133rd birth anniversary)	JPL · 126245
126246 Losignore	2002 AB₆₇	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.	IAU · 126246

126301–126400

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
126315 Bláthy	2002 AH₁₃₀	Ottó Bláthy (1860–1939), Hungarian electrical engineer	JPL · 126315

126401–126500

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
126444 Wylie	2002 CF₁₆	Wylie Erwin Reeves (1967–2006), American historian and high-school teacher	JPL · 126444
126445 Prestonreeves	2002 CH₁₆	W. Preston Reeves (born 1935), American chemistry professor emeritus at Texas Lutheran University	JPL · 126445

126501–126600

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
126578 Suhhosoo	2002 CK₁₁₆	Ho Soo Suh (1736–1799), Korean scientist responsible for most of the astronomical and arithmetical projects	JPL · 126578

126601–126700

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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

126701–126800

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
126748 Mariegerbet	2002 DP	Marie Gerbet (born 1989), a French meteorite hunter	JPL · 126748
126749 Johnjones	2002 DQ₁	John Jones (1927–2006), American astronomy popularizer, president of the Chicago Astronomical Society and general chairman of Astrofest	JPL · 126749
126780 Ivovasiljev	2002 EP₇	Ivo Vasiljev (born 1935) is a Czech linguist, translator, teacher and orientalist dealing with the Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese languages.	JPL · 126780

126801–126900

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
126888 Tspitzer	2002 EO₁₀₀	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.	JPL · 126888

126901–127000

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
126901 Craigstevens	2002 EE₁₁₀	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.	JPL · 126901
126905 Junetveekrem	2002 EF₁₁₂	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.	JPL · 126905
126906 Andykulessa	2002 EX₁₁₄	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.	IAU · 126906
126965 Neri	2002 FJ₁₈	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.	JPL · 126965

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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 125,001–126,000	Meanings of minor planet names List of minor planets: 126,001–127,000	Succeeded by 127,001–128,000

[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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