Named for William Huggins (1824-1910), pioneer in astronomical spectroscopy.  Huggins stated that the chemical elements on the earth also existed in the stars, discovered the gaseous nature of bright nebulae, was the first to study the spectrum of a nova and measured the radial velocity of Sirius.

As early as 1875 he had devised methods of photographing spectra, and this resulted in the publication of his Atlas of Representative Stellar Spectra in 1899.  Name suggested and citation prepared by B. Hetherington. Dr. Huggins was named an Honorary Member of the Astronomical and Physical Society of Toronto on 1891-11-16.

Orbit type: Main Belt Asteroid

Reference: MPC 9768