Meanings of minor-planet names: 77001–78000
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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 bulletin by IAU's Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN).[1] Before May 2021, citations were published in MPC's Minor Planet Circulars for many decades.[2] Recent citations can also be found on the JPL Small-Body Database (SBDB).[3] 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.[4][5]
Based on Paul Herget's The Names of the Minor Planets,[6] Schmadel also researched the unclear origin of numerous asteroids, most of which had been named prior to World War II. 
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: SBDB New namings may only be added to this list below after official publication as the preannouncement of names is condemned.[7] The WGSBN publishes a comprehensive guideline for the naming rules of non-cometary small Solar System bodies.[8]
77001–77100
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77044 Galera-Rosillo | 2001 CE42 | Rebeca Galera-Rosillo (1988–2020) was a promising young Spanish scientist who earned her master's degree in astrophysics from the University of La Laguna. At the time of her death, she was close to defending her doctoral research on planetary nebulae at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. | IAU · 77044 |
77101–77200
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77136 Mendillo | 2001 DP106 | Michael Mendillo (born 1944), American professor of astronomy and electrical engineering at Boston University | JPL · 77136 |
| 77138 Puiching | 2001 EN | Pui Ching Middle School, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1889. | JPL · 77138 |
| 77166 McKaye | 2001 EV19 | John E. "Jack" McKaye (1948–2022), amateur astronomer. | JPL · 77166 |
| 77185 Cherryh | 2001 FE9 | C. J. Cherryh (born 1942), an American science fiction and fantasy writer | JPL · 77185 |
77201–77300
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| There are no named minor planets in this number range | |||
77301–77400
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77318 Danieltsui | 2001 FL86 | Daniel C. Tsui (born 1939), Chinese-American physicist and Nobelist, a graduate of Pui Ching Middle School in Hong Kong (see 77138) | JPL · 77318 |
77401–77500
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77441 Jouve | 2001 HU | Jacques Jouve (born 1929), involved in the construction of the Observatory of Saint-Veran, a station of the Paris Observatory that studies the solar corona, in the French Alps | JPL · 77441 |
77501–77600
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77560 Furusato | 2001 KP1 | Furusato is a well-known song in Japan. The word also means "country home". | JPL · 77560 |
77601–77700
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77621 Koten | 2001 KZ41 | Pavel Koten (born 1972), a staff astronomer at the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. | JPL · 77621 |
| 77696 Patriciann | 2001 OT2 | Patricia Ann Clingan (born 1949), wife of amateur astronomer Roy Clingan who discovered this minor planet | JPL · 77696 |
77701–77800
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77755 Delémont | 2001 PW13 | Delémont, Switzerland, where the Jurassien-Vicques Observatory is situated | JPL · 77755 |
77801–77900
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77856 Noblitt | 2001 RN63 | Niles Noblitt (born 1951), American member of the board of trustees of the Rose-Hulman Institute and loyal supporter of the Rose-Hulman Observatory, where this minor planet was discovered | JPL · 77856 |
| 77870 MOTESS | 2001 SM | MOTESS (Moving Object and Transient Event Search System), using three 0.35-meter reflecting telescopes, operating in Tucson, Arizona, that has observed and discovered small Solar System objects | JPL · 77870 |
77901–78000
| Named minor planet | Provisional | This minor planet was named for... | Ref · Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77971 Donnolo | 2002 JA11 | Shabbethai Donnolo (913–982), an Italian physician, medical author and astrologer/astronomer | JPL · 77971 |