Labels:text | screenshot | font | number OCR: NAMING ASTEROIDS ASTEROIDS ARE NUMBERED according to the order in which their orbits became known. They are also named, usually by their discoverer. Originally names were taken from mythology and were usually feminine (for example Vesta, Pallas, and Juno). As mythological sources were exhausted, names of states, cities, colleges, composers, writers, astronauts, and so on, were used. Today anything goes with asteroid names: there is even one, Asteroid 2309, that is named Mr. Spock for the famous character in the television series, Star Trek.