Meanings of minor planet names: 62001–63000

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.

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.

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]

• Index
• 100K
• 200K
• 300K
• 400K
• 500K
• 600K

• 57,000s
• 58,000s
• 59,000s
• 60,000s
• 61,000s
• 62,000s
• 63,000s
• 64,000s
• 65,000s
• 66,000s
• 67,000s

---

• 62,001…
• 62,101…
• 62,201…
• 62,301…
• 62,401…
• 62,501…
• 62,601…
• 62,701…
• 62,801…
• 62,901…

62001–62100

Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
62071 Voegtli	2000 RH77	Christian Voegtli (born 1959), also spelt Vögtli, is a Swiss physicist who studied theoretical physics in Basel. For many years he has been interested in evolutionary processes and he is very happy now to watch his two funny daughters developing their fitness for the next generation.	JPL · 62071

62101–62200

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
62190 Augusthorch	2000 SS44	August Horch (1868–1951), German engineer and automobile pioneer. The first Horch automobile was built in 1901.	JPL · 62190

62201–62300

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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

62301–62400

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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

62401–62500

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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

62501–62600

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
62503 Tomcave	2000 SL233	Thomas Roland Cave III (1923–2003) was an American amateur astronomer and persistent observer with a special interest in Mars. His planetary observations covered more than half a century. He shared his observatory in California willingly and helped numerous astronomy enthusiasts in the building of their own telescopes (Src).	JPL · 62503

62601–62700

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
62666 Rainawessen	2000 TA	Raina Wessen (born 1994) has been the Key Club Treasurer and Associated Student Body Treasurer at Marshall Fundamental High School. She has held positions in her community for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Huntington Memorial Hospital and the Pasadena Humane Society.	JPL · 62666

62701–62800

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Named minor planet	Provisional	This minor planet was named for...	Ref · Catalog
62701 Davidrankin	2000 TS32	David Rankin (born 1984) is an American amateur astronomer and observer of near-Earth objects, who reports his follow-up observations to the MPC.	JPL · 62701
62794 Scheirich	2000 UV30	Petr Scheirich (born 1979), a Czech astronomer at the Ondřejov Observatory, who is an expert in the modeling of binary and tumbling asteroids from photometric observations. He also engages in meteorite field searches.	JPL · 62794

62801–62900

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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

62901–63000

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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

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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 61,001–62,000

Meanings of minor planet names List of minor planets: 62,001–63,000

Succeeded by 63,001–64,000