[meteorite-list] WI Meteorite naming rights

From: Rob Matson <mojave_meteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 9 May 2010 00:29:44 -0700
Message-ID: <GOEDJOCBMMEHLEFDHGMMKEDMEDAA.mojave_meteorites_at_cox.net>

Michael Blood opined:

> My understanding is that the naming of all meteorites is at
> the sole discretion of the Nomenclature committee of the
> Meteoritical Society.

This is not correct. While "approval" of submitted names is
certainly the responsibility of the Nomenclature Committee,
they don't simply choose whatever name they like. The finder
that submits the type specimen to the institution that
first classifies and submits the meteorite to the NomComm
DOES have naming rights. There are reasonable guidelines for
acceptable names, but it is usually not hard for the submitter
to meet these requirements and get exactly the name they
requested.

If I correctly understand the timeline for the Wisconsin fall,
and the institution doing the classification, the farmer who
submitted the first sample to the University of Wisconsin the
day after the fall probably has naming rights. That would be
great, if true, since he is a very nice chap.

Cheers,
Rob
Received on Sun 09 May 2010 03:29:44 AM PDT