IAU Minor Planet Center

MPEC 2002-D44 : EDITORIAL NOTICE

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M.P.E.C. 2002-D44                                Issued 2002 Feb. 27, 20:09 UT

     The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual
         minor planets and routine data on comets.  They are published
   on behalf of Commission 20 of the International Astronomical Union by the
          Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory,
                          Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.

             Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network

                              MPC@CFA.HARVARD.EDU
          URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html  ISSN 1523-6714

                               EDITORIAL NOTICE

                   [reprinted from MPC 44683, 2002 Feb. 27]

     The Minor Planet Center acknowledges with thanks the receipt of donations
this past month from A. C. Beresford (South Australia) and P. A. Shugart
(Texas).

     As noted on MPC 44163, the acceptance and publication of new names
for minor planets continues to be more delayed than in the past.
Nevertheless, all names submitted before today are now in the hands of the
Committee on Small-Body Nomenclature.  As also noted, there are plans for the
preparation of a website, the use of which will be mandatory for the
submission of name proposals, but the preparation of which has also been
delayed.  In the mean time, and effective immediately, submitters are advised
that name proposals that are not sent by e-mail precisely according to
specification, or that appear to be too long, will be rejected.  Submissions
by e-mail to  mpc@cfa.harvard.edu will be automatically acknowledged,
but there will be no notification of rejection.  It is therefore important
that all those submitting names familiarize themselves with the
instructions in the "Guide to Minor Body Astrometry"
(http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/info/Astrometry.html), referring
specifically to question 29.  Citations should not be sent as an attachment,
the spacing is important, the provisional designation and discovery date
should be provided in the proper form, and the header line must be included.
Diacritical marks should be indicated according to the conventions of TeX,
and for names honoring people the years of birth (and death) and some
geographical information should be included.  Recent discussions in the CSBN
have led to suggestions that contrived or concatenated names (e.g., consisting
of elements of the first and last names of persons to be honored) should be
confined to no more than 12 letters, if at all possible, and that the
acknowledgment of others, such as a person suggesting a name to or preparing
the citation for the discoverer, should be kept to a minimum.

Brian G. Marsden             (C) Copyright 2002 MPC           M.P.E.C. 2002-D44

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