78816 Caripito

The asteroid was discovered on 4 August 2003, by American amateur astronomer and professor of geophysics, Joseph Dellinger at the Needville Observatory in Texas, United States.

[2] Caripito is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population.

[1] This minor planet is named for the Venezuelan town of Caripito in the northeastern Monagas State.

At the time, the town was a base camp for the country's rich Quiriquire oil field.

[2] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 September 2005 (M.P.C.