Named in honor of Robert Hamilton Brown, planetary astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A pioneer in the study of the compositions of the satellites of Uranus, Brown has also contributed greatly to the development of the radiometric method of diameter determination for minor planets and satellites. He has been involved in several calibrations of the radiometric method using occultation diameters, and he has investigated the geometric assumptions by developing a generalized ellipsoidal radiometric model. “Abante” derives from the name of Brown’s Italian grandfather; in English it loosely corresponds to “Bob”, a nickname for Robert. (M 12804) _ _.