Named in honor of R. T. A. nnes (1861–1933), first Director of the Republic Observatory (originally Transvaal Observatory, later Union Observatory), from 1903 to 1927. He was not only a first-class observer, well-known for his observations of double stars and his deliberate search for Proxima Centauri, but he also made important theoretical and computational contributions to celestial mechanics, including the first convincing demonstration of the irregular rotation of the Earth. (M 3297) _ _.