IAU: WG Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN)
Contact
The WGSBN can be contacted at contact@wgsbn-iau.org.
Name Proposal Link
Discoverers can use this link to access the name proposal site. Registration is required to access the site. Discoverers who require access should request access.
Naming Guidelines
Comet Naming Guidelines
Minor Planet Naming Guidelines
(Translations)
Members
There are 15 members of the WGSBN, 11 of whom are voting members. The other four members, who are ex-officio, are representatives for the IAU WG Planetary System Nomenclature and the Minor Planet Center, as well as the IAU President and General Secretary.
The current members of the WGSBN are listed below:
- Jana Tichá, Chair
- Keith Noll, Vice-Chair
- Gareth Williams, Secretary
- Yuliya Chernetenko
- Julio Fernández
- Daniel Green
- Pam Kilmartin
- Syuichi Nakano
- Carrie Nugent
- Don Yeomans
- Jin Zhu
- Debra M. Elmegreen ex-officio (IAU President)
- José Miguel Rodríguez Espinosa ex-officio (IAU GS)
- Rita Schulz, ex-officio (WGPSN)
- Peter Vereš, ex-officio (MPC)
Statistics
There are currently 24398 named minor planets.
The WGSBN is a Working Group (WG) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and is responsible for assigning names to minor planets and comets. It is a functional WG, which means that it exists beyond the regular three-year lifespan of IAU WGs.
News
July 24: WGSBN Bulletin 3, #11 Issued
July 3: WGSBN Bulletin 3, #10 Issued
June 21: WGSBN Bulletin 3, #9 Issued
June 12: WGSBN Bulletin 3, #8 Issued
May 22: WGSBN Bulletin 3, #7 Issued
May 16: C/1808 R1 (Pons)
Sign Up For New Bulletin Alerts
Enter an e-mail address to receive notifications of the availability of new issues of the WGSBN Bulletin.
You will receive a message at the given e-mail address containing a link that you must click to activate or cancel your subscription.
WGSBN Bulletins
The latest issue is here and links to older issues are here.
For convenience, links to the issues from the most recent volume are listed below:
- 2023
- Volume 3, #11 (2023 Jul 24)
- Volume 3, #10 (2023 Jul 3)
- Volume 3, #9 (2023 Jun 22)
- Volume 3, #8 (2023 Jun 12)
- Volume 3, #7 (2023 May 22)
- Volume 3, #6 (2023 May 1)
- Volume 3, #5 (2023 Apr 14)
- Volume 3, #4 (2023 Mar 20)
- Volume 3, #3 (2023 Feb 27)
- Volume 3, #2 (2023 Feb 9)
- Volume 3, #1 (2023 Jan 16)
Data Files
The latest set of files are here (UTF-8 only) or here (UTF-8 + HTML), and links to older files are here.
For convenience, links to the files from the most recent volume are listed below:
- 2023
- Volume 3, #11 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 Jul 24)
- Volume 3, #10 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 Jul 3)
- Volume 3, #9 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 Jun 22)
- Volume 3, #8 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 Jun 12)
- Volume 3, #7 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 May 22)
- Volume 3, #6 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 Jun 6)
- Volume 3, #5 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 Apr 10)
- Volume 3, #4 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 Mar 20)
- Volume 3, #3 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 Feb 27)
- Volume 3, #2 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 Feb 6)
- Volume 3, #1 UTF-8 only UTF-8 + HTML (2023 Jan 16)
Corrigenda Files
The latest file is here and links to older files are here.
For convenience, links to the most recent corrigenda files are listed below:
- 2023
- Volume 3, #11 (2023 Jul 24)
- Volume 3, #10 (2023 Jul 3)
- Volume 3, #8 (2023 Jun 12)
- Volume 3, #7 (2023 May 22)
- Volume 3, #6 (2023 May 1)
- Volume 3, #5 (2023 Apr 10)
- Volume 3, #3 (2023 Feb 27)
- Volume 3, #2 (2023 Feb 6)
- Volume 3, #1 (2023 Jan 16)
Documentation
This page also contains links to various WG documents involving nomenclature issues.
Problem E-Mail Addresses
WGSBN Publications