Astronomy:Meanings of minor planet names: 97001–98000

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This is a partial list of meanings of minor planet names. Also see list of named minor planets (alphabetical) for a condensed version without naming citations.

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 published in MPC's Minor Planet Circulars several times a year. Recent citations can also be found on the JPL Small-Body Database (SBDB). Until his death in 2016, German astronomer Lutz D. Schmadel compiled these citations into the Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (DMP) and regularly updated the collection. Based on Paul Herget's The Names of the Minor Planets, Schmadel also researched the unclear origin of numerous asteroids, most of which had been named prior to World War II.  This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "SBDB". New namings may only be added after official publication as the preannouncement of names is condemned by the Committee on Small Body Nomenclature.

97001–97100

|-id=069 | 97069 Stek || 1999 VB₂₃ || Stefano Klett (born 1964) is a Swiss computer scientist and amateur astronomer who observes minor planets from his home town of Camorino. He is the promoter of the Ticino section of Dark Sky Switzerland. || JPL · 97069 |}

97101–97200

|-id=186 | 97186 Tore || 1999 WP₈ || Salvatore Silanus (born 1961), nicknamed Tore, is a friend of Swiss astronomer Stefano Sposetti who discovered this minor planet. || JPL · 97186 |}

97201–97300

|-id=268 | 97268 Serafinozani || 1999 XD₁₂₇ || The Serafino Zani Astronomical Observatory (Osservatorio astronomico Serafino Zani) in Italy was built by Serafino Zani and his family on San Bernardo hill in the commune of Lumezzane in Brescia, Lombardy, and then given to the local amateur astronomers. || JPL · 97268 |}

97301–97400

|-id=336 | 97336 Thomasafleming || 1999 YB₁ || Thomas Anthony Fleming (born 1960) is an American x-ray astronomer and educator at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. He discovered that DA-type white dwarfs were not copious x-ray sources, and he is known for creating and expanding interactive computer-based astronomy education. || JPL · 97336 |}

97401–97500

|-id=472 | 97472 Hobby || 2000 CB₄₁ || The Hobby Foundation supports museums and educational organizations throughout Texas. Ten thousand schoolchildren and members of the public a year view the wonders of the heavens through the Hobby telescope at the Houston Museum of Natural Science's George Observatory. || JPL · 97472 |}

97501–97600

|-id=508 | 97508 Bolden || 2000 CU₁₁₀ || Charles Frank Bolden Jr. (born 1946) is a former American astronaut who flew on four space shuttle missions (two as the pilot and two as the commander). From 2009 to 2017, he was the NASA Administrator. || JPL · 97508 |-id=512 | 97512 Jemison || 2000 CV₁₁₈ || Mae Carol Jemison (born 1956) is a retired American astronaut who flew on the space shuttle in 1992. On the space shuttle she conducted scientific experiments. She was the first African American woman to travel into space and the first African American woman admitted into the astronaut training program. || JPL · 97512 |-id=582 | 97582 Hijikawa || 2000 EP₁₅ || Hijikawa River is a 103-km-long river in the Japanese Ehime prefecture. It has its source near the Tosaka Pass in Seiyo City and flows into the Seto Inland Sea. With more than 470 tributaries, the river has supplied its abundant water to the people in the southern part of Ehime, especially for irrigation. || JPL · 97582 |}

97601–97700

|-id=631 | 97631 Kentrobinson || 2000 ED₁₄₄ || Ernest Kent Robinson (born 1939), an member of the advisory board at Lowell Observatory, enthusiastically spearheaded the capital campaign for a collection center and library to protect, preserve and make available the historic archives of that institution. || JPL · 97631 |-id=637 | 97637 Blennert || 2000 EQ₁₅₆ || John Blennert (born 1951) is a meteorite hunter in Tucson, Arizona, one of three co-discoverers of the Gold Basin Meteorite Strewn Field || JPL · 97637 |-id=677 | 97677 Rachelfreed || 2000 FE₅₇ || Rachel Freed (born 1972) is a teacher, an education curriculum specialist, and an avid long-distance runner. She works with the Astronomical Society of the Pacific as a volunteer and researcher. || JPL · 97677 |}

97701–97800

|-id=786 | 97786 Oauam || 2000 NU₂ || The Poznań Observatory of Adam Mickiewicz University (OA UAM) in Poznań, Poland. The observatory (047) was active in asteroid and comet observations starting in the 1930s. In the 1990s the focus shifted to physical studies of asteroids. Currently OA UAM is the main center for studies of small Solar System bodies in Poland. || IAU · 97786 |}

97801–97900

|-bgcolor=#f2f2f2 | colspan=4 align=center | There are no named minor planets in this number range |}

97901–98000

|-bgcolor=#f2f2f2 | colspan=4 align=center | There are no named minor planets in this number range |}