Named in honor of Laurentino Ascencion Cabrera (1917– ), an outstanding Argentine astronomer, long on the staff of the La Plata Observatory. His early research involved gravimetry, and from 1949 to 1952 he also worked for the International Latitude Service. From 1958 to 1969 he was in charge of the site-survey commission for the 2.15-m reflector of the Argentine National Observatory and since 1986 has been collaborating with that observatory. (M 18305) _ _.