Named in honor of Raymond Michard (1925– ), administrator of the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur since 1987 and ardent supporter of the CERGA {see planet  (2252)} Schmidt. He had earlier studied the sun at Sacramento Peak and led the Service Solaire at Meudon during 1971–76. He later studied the morphology of elliptical galaxies in Texas and at Nice, where he was director in 1981. (M 23541) _ _.