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The naming of minor planets: multicultural relationships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2011

Jean-Claude Merlin
Jean-Claude Merlin*
Affiliation:
Société Astronomique de France, 3 rue Beethoven, 75016 Paris, France email: jcmerlin@wanadoo.fr
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Abstract

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To date, among the hundred or so minor planets we discovered with various instruments around the world, twenty of these objects have been definitively numbered and named. We have choosen the names according to our centers of interest. In honouring people in domains as varied as astronomy, astronautics, music, paleontology, comic strips, . . . we had the opportunity of establishing fruitful relationships with a large horizon of cultures. It was also a good opportunity for the diffusion of astronomy towards other communities.

Keywords

Minor planetsmythologyculturesoutreachamateurs
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S260: The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture , January 2009 , pp. 218 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

References

Merlin, J.-C. 2001, L'Astronomie, 115, 46Google Scholar
Merlin, J.-C. & Merlin, A. 2006, L'Astronomie, 120, 562Google Scholar
Schmadel, L. D. 2000, Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (Berlin: Springer Verlag)Google Scholar