IAU Division III

Introduction

All minor planet names are subject to the approval of the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature (CSBN), a working group of IAU Division III, in consultation with the IAU's Minor Planet Center (MPC). The guidelines are based on resolutions that have been passed at various times by IAU Commission 20, to which the CSBN and its predecessor committees reported until 1997. The CSBN advises the MPC on how to interpret these resolutions in individual cases. We provide here the relevant resolutions from the Transactions of the IAU. Note that the reviewing structure and schedule have changed over the period covered by these resolutions. All reviews are now carried out by the CSBN which was created in 1994.

Montreal, 1979

From Proceedings of the General Assembly XVIIA
"Commission 20 affirms the tradition that the discoverer of a numbered minor planet be permitted to propose a name for the object. A proposal would normally be accepted, provided that it is consistent with the broad policy of the Working Group on Planetary System Nomenclature. The name would become official following the publication in the MPCs of a brief citation explaining its significance. The Commission defines the discovery as the earliest apparition at which an orbit useful in the establishment of identifications was calculated; in the case of double designations during the same apparition, priority will be given in order of announcement of discovery, unless the double designation follows from an orbit computation using the observations made according to the second announcement. Further, the Commission proposes that, if the discoverer is deceased, or if a minor planet remains unnamed ten years after it has been numbered, a name could appropriately be suggested by identifiers of the various apparitions of the object, by discoverers at apparitions other than the official one, by those whose observations contributed extensively to the orbit determination, or by representatives of the observatory at which the official discovery was made. In such a case, the selection of a name shall be a judged by a committee of three, consisting normally of the President and Vice President of the Commission 20 and the Director of the Minor Planet Center, and the final decision shall be made not less than six months following the announcement of the numbering of the minor planet."

Patras, 1982

From Transactions of the IAU XVIIIB
"All names proposed for minor planets will be reviewed for suitability, even when names are proposed by discoverers. The review will be done as indicated in the 1979 Commission 20 resolution, except that in the case of a name proposed by the discoverer, the six-month waiting period for a newly numbered object can be reduced to two months. Names shall be limited to a maximum length of sixteen characters, including spaces and hyphens." [The review committee is composed of the President and the Vice President of the Commission and the Director of the Minor Planet Center.]

The last sentence, in [   ], was part of the original resolution but was apparently later removed before adoption, thus allowing discretion in the composition of the committee.   mfa.

Delhi, 1985

From Transactions of the IAU XIXB
"Names proposed for minor planets will not be accepted if, in the opinion of the Minor Planet Names Committee, they are too nearly similar to those of other minor or major planets or natural satellites, or are in questionable taste. Names should be pronounceable, preferably expressible as a single word, and no more than sixteen characters long. Names glorifying individuals or events principally known for their political or military activities or implications are considered unsuitable unless at least one hundred years have elapsed since the individuals died or the events concerned took place. Objects involved with the Jovian triangular libration points should be named in accordance with the tradition of honoring heroes of the Trojan War. In a disputed case, the proposer may appeal the comittee's decision at a general meeting of Commission 20, provided that due written notice is given to the President of the Commission."

Sydney, 2003

The following resolutions were passed during the business meeting in Sydney.

• NAMES OF SATELLITES OF MINOR PLANETS.
  With the agreement of the WGPSN, the CSBN will assume responsibility for the naming of satellites of minor planets. Expanding on past practice, satellites of minor planets will, where possible and appropriate, receive names closely related to the name of the primary and suggesting the relative sizes. For example, binary transneptunian objects of comparable size should receive the names of twins or siblings, consistent with the current principle of using names of gods of creation or the underworld.
• LIMITING OF NAMING MINOR PLANETS.
  The CSBN recognizes the need to limit the numbers of minor planets named, and requests individual discoverers and teams to propose no more than two names each two months.
• GUIDELINE FOR "COMMERCIAL" NAMES.
  Names honoring persons or companies or products for no more than success in business are discouraged. Names or citations that resemble advertising will not be accepted.

Summary of Guidelines (pre-2003)

• Discoverers have the privilege to propose names for ten years after numbering. Beyond that point, others may propose names.
• Names must be pronounceable, preferably expressible as a single word, and no more than 16 characters in length.
• Individuals or events principally known for political or military activities are unsuitable until 100 years after the death of the individual or the occurrence of the event.
• Names of pet animals are discouraged.
• Minor planets in certain dynamical groups should be named within more restrictive guidelines. For example,
  
  • Trojan asteroids (those that librate in 1:1 resonance with Jupiter) are named for heroes of the Trojan War (Greeks at L4 and Trojans at L5).
  • Trans-Jovian planets crossing or approaching the orbit of a giant planet but not in a stabilizing resonance are named for centaurs
  • Objects crossing or approaching the orbit of Neptune and in stabilizing resonances other than 1:1 are given mythological names associated with the underworld.
  • Objects sufficiently outside Neptune's orbit that orbital stability is reasonably assured for a substantial fraction of the lifetime of the solar system are given mythological names associated with creation.
  • Objects that approach or cross Earth's orbit are given mythological names.
• Any decision of the CSBN with which a proposer disagrees may be appealed by the proposer. Since the CSBN now reports to Division III, that appeal should be addressed, by electronic mail or by letter, to the president of Division III, for action by the membership at the following General Assembly.
• The CSBN may choose to act on its own in naming a minor planet and has traditionally done so in each case in which the number is an integral number of thousands.
• See also the guidelines above passed by CSBN and Div III in Sydney

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