<p>I'm not entirely sure, but I would guess that it's simply because the discoverer suggested it. After a few steps in the process of characterizing an asteroid's orbit, the discoverer gets to suggest a name (within reason) to a committee.  The full guidelines are available at the relevant <a href="https://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming/#minorplanets" rel="nofollow">IAU webpage</a>.  (It's longer than is worth reproducing here.)</p>

<p>Note that there are plenty of "celebrity" asteroids, drawn from a wide range of human endeavours: Adamsmith, Balzac, Beethoven, Megryan, etc. If anything, I'm surprised that an asteroid wasn't named Nimoy sooner. There's already a Mr. Spock!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-09T20:10:31.050Z
As a purely trivial note, asteroid "2309 Mr. Spock" was originally named for astronomer James Gibson's pet cat, who in turn was named after the Star Trek character. http://www.futilitycloset.com/2005/06/22/asteroids-named-after-fictional-characters/
Russell Borogove
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-08T12:24:56.047Z
2015-06-08T12:24:56.047Z
Warrick
<p>The asteroid 4864 Nimoy was <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/06/06/asteroid_4864_nimoy_named_for_leonard_nimoy.html">recently named after Leonard Nimoy</a>. It was discovered on September 2, 1988 so it went nearly 27 years without a name. Why was this asteroid chosen to be named after him? Were they trying to think of a name for it and chose to name it for Leonard Nimoy, or were they looking for an asteroid to name after him and chose that one?</p>

<asteroids><naming>
Why was this asteroid (4864 Nimoy) chosen to be named after Leonard Nimoy?
duzzy
# Why was this asteroid (4864 Nimoy) chosen to be named after Leonard Nimoy?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-06-06)

The asteroid 4864 Nimoy was [recently named after Leonard Nimoy](http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/06/06/asteroid_4864_nimoy_named_for_leonard_nimoy.html). It was discovered on September 2, 1988 so it went nearly 27 years without a name. Why was this asteroid chosen to be named after him? Were they trying to think of a name for it and chose to name it for Leonard Nimoy, or were they looking for an asteroid to name after him and chose that one?

**Tags:** asteroids, naming


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-06-08. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

I'm not entirely sure, but I would guess that it's simply because the discoverer suggested it. After a few steps in the process of characterizing an asteroid's orbit, the discoverer gets to suggest a name (within reason) to a committee. The full guidelines are available at the relevant [IAU webpage](https://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming/#minorplanets). (It's longer than is worth reproducing here.)

Note that there are plenty of "celebrity" asteroids, drawn from a wide range of human endeavours: Adamsmith, Balzac, Beethoven, Megryan, etc. If anything, I'm surprised that an asteroid wasn't named Nimoy sooner. There's already a Mr. Spock!

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: As a purely trivial note, asteroid "2309 Mr. Spock" was originally named for astronomer James Gibson's pet cat, who in turn was named after the Star Trek character. http://www.futilitycloset.com/2005/06/22/asteroids-named-after-fictional-characters/  

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