Named in honor of Hermann Böhnhardt (1955– ), astronomer at the European Southern Observatory, known for his observational and theoretical studies of comets. He took a particular interest in (7968) Elst-Pizarro, a Themis-family {see planet  (24)} minor planet that also appeared in the guise of comet 133P/1996 N2. In addition to the main, sunward tail temporariliy exhibited by this strange object, Böhnhardt detected a faint anti-sunward tail, which he had predicted by means of Finson-Probstein modeling. (M 31298) _ _.