The Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (DMPN) is the official reference for the field of the IAU, the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and any surface features on them. The discovery rate of minor planets has made necessary a new edition of this established compendium: this thoroughly revised seventh edition presents 22,977 minor planets named at the end of 2021 and provides authoritative information about the basis for all names of minor planets. It provides a most interesting historical insight into the work of those astronomers who over two centuries vested their affinities in a rich and colourful variety of ingenious names, from more prosaic constructions to heavenly goddesses. This seventh edition serves as the primary reference, with supplementary booklets with newly named bodies to be issued every three years.
Lutz D. Schmadel
Dr. Lutz D. Schmadel (1942–2016), Astronom und Berechner von Bahnen und Ephemeriden von Kleinplaneten am Astronomischen Rechen-Institut, Heidelberg, hat mehr als 230 Kleinplaneten entdeckt. Er ist Gründer des DMPN und Autor der ersten sechs Ausgaben, die im Auftrag der Kommission 20 der International Astronomical Union (IAU) erstellt wurden. Als Mitglied der IAU gehörte er mehreren Abteilungen und Kommissionen an, darunter der Abteilung III, Kommission 20 (Positions & Motions of Minor Planets, Comets & Satellites)), der Kommission 5 (Documentation & Astronomical Data), der Kommission 41 (History of Astronomy) sowie dem Committee on Small Bodies Nomenclature (CSBN).
Geschichte der Astronomie History of Astronomy Kleine Planeten Minor Planets Nomenclature Nomenklatur Solar System Sonnensystem