8990 Compassion

8990 Compassion is an asteroid, originally designated 1980 DN, discovered on 19 February 1980 at the Kleť Observatory in the Czech Republic.

The asteroid was named in response to the September 11 attacks. As a commemorative gesture, the Committee for the Nomenclature of Small Bodies chose three objects discovered in observatories on different continents and christened them with names representing some of the most basic and universal human values. The other two selections were 8992 Magnanimity (discovered from Asia) and 8991 Solidarity (discovered from South America).

References

This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of October 23, 2005.

Minor planets navigator

(8989) 1979 XJ 8990 Compassion 8991 Solidarity

Small Solar System bodies

Minor planets

Designation Groups Moons Meanings of names Pronunciation of names

Asteroids	Aten asteroid Families Jupiter Trojans Main-belt Near-Earth Spectral types

Distant minor planets	Centaurs Damocloids Neptune trojans Trans-Neptunian objects Detached Kuiper belt Oort cloud Scattered disc

Comets

Meteoroids

Lists / categories

Asteroid groups and families
Asteroid moons
Binary asteroids
Minor planets