Main belt asteroid No. 274301 named 'Wikipedia'

January 31, 2013

A main belt, , has been named after Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia. The information became available on the 's website yesterday.

The decision of the to assign the name "Wikipedia" to the asteroid was published in the  of January 27, published online yesterday, page 82403. board member Andriy Makukha proposed the name. It was submitted to the Committee by the head of the in Ukraine,.

The official dedication of the name says:

The asteroid was discovered by the team of astronomers of Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory. At first it was observed by that team on August 25, 2008 at 22:47 (UTC). It was also observed on the next night and two weeks later on September 6. It received provisional designation 2008 QH24. Accurate calculation of its orbit showed asteroid 2008 QH24 is the same as 1997 RO4 and 2007 FK34. The asteroid had been previously spotted by observatories including Caussols-ODAS in France, and and  in Arizona, US.

On April 18, 2011 the minor planet received the number 274301.