Named in honor of Elena Ivanovna Kazimirchak-Polonskaya {1902–1992}, a prominent researcher on cometary motion and the evolution of cometary orbits. She has demonstrated with numerous examples the possibility of the formation of typical short-period cometary orbits from the capture of comets by major planets. In 1968 she was awarded the F. A. Bredikhin {see planet  (786)} prize by the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences for her considerable contributions to cometary astronomy. She is a member of the organizing committee of IAU Commission 20. (M 4481) _ _.