# Someone I know got a planet named after them **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-i-know-got-a-planet-named-after-them/979708 "2023-02-13T12:12:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-i-know-got-a-planet-named-after-them/979708/1 "2023-02-13T12:12:50Z")
Just now I was Googling for old friends and acquaintances and discovered that someone I know has had a planet named after him: > **[Meanings of minor planet names: 10001–11000](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meanings_of_minor_planet_names:_10001%E2%80%9311000#084)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > 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. > Official naming citations of newly named small Solar System bodies are approved and published in a ... Back in the early 1990s, Ross Parker and I were active on the BBS scene and members of the local Commodore users’ group. Ross also ran the BBS for the city’s astronomy club. Seems he particularly excelled at the latter hobby, as there’s now a minor planet named **10084 Rossparker** , according to the International Astronomical Union. Not being an astronomer myself, I have no idea how rare an honour this is, but I think it’s pretty cool nonetheless. Anyone else here have any friends or relatives that have had celestial bodies named after them? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-i-know-got-a-planet-named-after-them/979708/2 "2023-02-13T14:21:25Z")
Wow! Of course, its inhabitants probably have a different name for it… (More seriously, it’s probable that other civilizations out here are bestowing their own names on some of the same lifeless planets we are). ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-i-know-got-a-planet-named-after-them/979708/3 "2023-02-13T15:27:28Z")
With a diameter of just 3.9 km, it’s doubtful Rossparker has any inhabitants (even non-sentient ones). But if any do turn up, I’m sure we’ll learn about them soon, as [the minor planet seems to be frequently observed by Earth telescopes](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=10084). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-i-know-got-a-planet-named-after-them/979708/4 "2023-02-13T19:56:00Z")
Wow. The site says it was discovered in 1990…but there’s also an observation from 1980 (and one from 1989). That was from going over older imagery and noticing a previously undetected wobble in its star? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-i-know-got-a-planet-named-after-them/979708/5 "2023-02-13T19:57:07Z")
Okay, I’m an idiot. I confused “minor planet” (typically an asteroid) with “exoplanet.” Never mind — carry on! (My question about retroactive image detection still holds). ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-i-know-got-a-planet-named-after-them/979708/6 "2023-02-13T20:03:55Z")
Yes, it means that it was captured in an image before, but the observer didn’t realize it was a (minor) planet, and it was ignored. Later they went back through the image archives and found the earlier version. Such “precovery” findings are pretty common. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-i-know-got-a-planet-named-after-them/979708/7 "2023-02-13T20:08:49Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Not being an astronomer myself, I have no idea how rare an honour this is, but I think it’s pretty cool nonetheless. Not especially. There are hundreds of thousands of asteroids, you have to name them something. > **[Minor Planet Names: Alphabetical List](https://www.datastro.eu/explore/dataset/minor-planet-names-alphabetical-list/table/)** > > This is an alphabetical listing of the names of the numbered minor planets. It was last updated on 2018 Oct. 29