Named in memory of Carsten Niebuhr (1733–1815), astronomer-surveyor, the sole survivor of the ill-fated Danish expedition to Arabia Felix (Yemen) in 1760–67. During an adventurous return voyage via India, and at great personal sacrifice, he carefully copied the inscriptions at the ruins of Persepolis. This served as the basis for the subsequent decoding of the cuneiform script and thus our access to source documents of early astronomical observations in that geographical area. (M 27329) Name suggested by R. M. West. _ _.