Named in honor of Akira Otawara (1950– ), photo artist and writer. In 1983 he published two books, Field Star Map 2000 and Star & Planet Catalogue 2000, in collaboration with S. Nakano {see planet (3431)}, who proposed the name and found the identifications involving this object. (M 22505) _ _.
Discovered on 2-8-1949 in Heidelberg by Reinmuth, K.