<p>There are other asteroids with provisional designation DA42.</p>
<p>&quot;D&quot; means the second half of February, A=1 and 42 means the letters A-Z (excluding J) have been assigned 42 times.</p>
<p>2001 DA42 indicates the
42*25+1 = 1051st asteroid given a provisional designation in the second half of February of 2001.  And in each year that there are 1051 or more asteroids discovered in the second half of February, there will be a DA42.</p>
<p>For example there is <a href="https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=440752" rel="noreferrer">2006 DA42</a>, <a href="https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;object_id=2010+DA42" rel="noreferrer">2010 DA42</a>, and  <a href="https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;object_id=2017+DA42" rel="noreferrer">2017 DA42</a></p>
<p>Indeed 2001 was not the first time that DA42 had been reached, but it later transpired that <a href="https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=30027" rel="noreferrer">2000 DA42</a> was actually an asteroid that had first been catalogued in 1998. Moreover, <a href="https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=25924" rel="noreferrer">2001 DA42</a> had previously been recorded in 1997 (in precovery images) and had even received the designation  <a href="https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=25924" rel="noreferrer">1999 VX149</a> when it was discovered 1999.</p>
<p>So the temporary name arose naturally.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-02T09:23:27.867Z
Excellent, so DA₄₂ is a "renewable resource" in case other beloved SciFi authors with the same initials and remembered for another instance of "42" pass away.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-02T10:49:46.540Z
pterry already has  [127005](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&object_id=127005), So [2015 TP8](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&object_id=2015+TP8)  can't be assigned to him.
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-02T17:24:30.027Z
@uhoh [Small-Body Database Lookup](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=*%20DA42)
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-02T08:30:02.597Z
2022-10-02T10:52:01.383Z
2022-10-02T10:52:01.383Z
James K
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_(number)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">42 (Number)</a> just might be the longest Wikipedia page for a single <s>number</s> integer.</p>
<p>In the Astronomy subsection of that article it says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In January 2004, asteroid 2001 DA<sub>42</sub> was given the permanent name 25924 Douglasadams, for the author Douglas Adams who popularized the number 42. Adams died in 2001. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_G._Marsden" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Brian G. Marsden</a>, the director of the Minor Planet Center and the secretary for the naming committee, remarked that, with even his initials in the provisional designation, &quot;This was sort of made for him, wasn't it?&quot;.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Did the temporary name DA<sub>42</sub> arise naturally? Was there a whole series of DA's and when 42 came up someone jumped on it, or was getting the original temporary name of DA<sub>42</sub> helped along somehow in order to make it available for later conversion to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25924_Douglasadams" rel="nofollow noreferrer">25924 Douglasadams</a>?</p>
<hr />
<p>potentially related and/or helpful:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/33919/7982">this answer to <em>How official is TNO 486958, 2014 MU69's new name Arrokoth?</em></a></li>
<li><a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/28773/7982">How did Biden become VP? (naming of 2012 VP113)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/46944/7982">What does &quot;TON&quot; in TON 618 stand for?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/81/7982">What is the naming convention for newly discovered objects?</a> (question #81 from 2013)</li>
<li>Wikipedia's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_designation_in_astronomy#New-style_provisional_designation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Provisional designation in astronomy; New-style provisional designation</a> (hat tip to @PM 2Ring)</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-03T21:33:34.940Z
I just realized 42 = 6*7 which might've been part of Adam's motivation of combining 666 and 777 into one number.
Sidharth Ghoshal
<asteroids><naming>
Did the temporary asteroid name DA₄₂ arise naturally and fortuitously (as a precursor to a Douglas Adams namesake)? Or did someone help it along?
uhoh
# Did the temporary asteroid name DA₄₂ arise naturally and fortuitously (as a precursor to a Douglas Adams namesake)? Or did someone help it along?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-10-02)

[42 (Number)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_(number)) just might be the longest Wikipedia page for a single ~~number~~ integer.

In the Astronomy subsection of that article it says:

> In January 2004, asteroid 2001 DA42 was given the permanent name 25924 Douglasadams, for the author Douglas Adams who popularized the number 42. Adams died in 2001. [Brian G. Marsden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_G._Marsden), the director of the Minor Planet Center and the secretary for the naming committee, remarked that, with even his initials in the provisional designation, "This was sort of made for him, wasn't it?".

Did the temporary name DA42 arise naturally? Was there a whole series of DA's and when 42 came up someone jumped on it, or was getting the original temporary name of DA42 helped along somehow in order to make it available for later conversion to [25924 Douglasadams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25924_Douglasadams)?

---

potentially related and/or helpful:

* [this answer to *How official is TNO 486958, 2014 MU69's new name Arrokoth?*](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/33919/7982)
* [How did Biden become VP? (naming of 2012 VP113)](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/28773/7982)
* [What does "TON" in TON 618 stand for?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/46944/7982)
* [What is the naming convention for newly discovered objects?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/81/7982) (question #81 from 2013)
* Wikipedia's [Provisional designation in astronomy; New-style provisional designation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_designation_in_astronomy#New-style_provisional_designation) (hat tip to @username_3)

**Tags:** asteroids, naming

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I just realized 42 = 6*7 which might've been part of Adam's motivation of combining 666 and 777 into one number.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-10-02. Score: 22 | Accepted answer

There are other asteroids with provisional designation DA42.

"D" means the second half of February, A=1 and 42 means the letters A-Z (excluding J) have been assigned 42 times.

2001 DA42 indicates the
42\*25+1 = 1051st asteroid given a provisional designation in the second half of February of 2001. And in each year that there are 1051 or more asteroids discovered in the second half of February, there will be a DA42.

For example there is [2006 DA42](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=440752), [2010 DA42](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&object_id=2010+DA42), and [2017 DA42](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&object_id=2017+DA42)

Indeed 2001 was not the first time that DA42 had been reached, but it later transpired that [2000 DA42](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=30027) was actually an asteroid that had first been catalogued in 1998. Moreover, [2001 DA42](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=25924) had previously been recorded in 1997 (in precovery images) and had even received the designation [1999 VX149](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=25924) when it was discovered 1999.

So the temporary name arose naturally.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Excellent, so DA₄₂ is a "renewable resource" in case other beloved SciFi authors with the same initials and remembered for another instance of "42" pass away.  
> **username_2**: pterry already has  [127005](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&object_id=127005), So [2015 TP8](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&object_id=2015+TP8)  can't be assigned to him.  
> **username_3**: @username_0 [Small-Body Database Lookup](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=*%20DA42)  

---

