The catalog of minor planets is published by the Minor Planet Center and contains 629,008 entries, including 134340 Pluto.[1] For an overview, see index.
Growing number of minor planets since 1995:
  •   numbered and named bodies (listed)
  •   numbered but unnamed bodies (listed)
  •   unnumbered bodies (not part of this list)

The following is a list of numbered minor planets in ascending numerical order. With the exception of comets, minor planets are all small bodies in the Solar System, including asteroids, distant objects and dwarf planets. The catalog consists of hundreds of pages, each containing 1,000 minor planets. Every year, the Minor Planet Center, which operates on behalf of the International Astronomical Union, publishes thousands of newly numbered minor planets in its Minor Planet Circulars (see index).[1][2] As of October 2023, there are 629,008 numbered minor planets (secured discoveries) out of a total of 1,310,261 observed small Solar System bodies, with the remainder being unnumbered minor planets and comets.[3]

The catalog's first object is 1 Ceres, discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801, while its best-known entry is Pluto, listed as 134340 Pluto. The vast majority (97.3%) of minor planets are asteroids from the asteroid belt (the catalog uses a color code to indicate a body's dynamical classification). There are more than a thousand different minor-planet discoverers observing from a growing list of registered observatories. In terms of numbers, the most prolific discoverers are Spacewatch, LINEAR, MLS, NEAT and CSS. There are also 23,542 named minor planets mostly after people, places and figures from mythology and fiction,[4] which account for only 3.8% of all numbered catalog entries. (4596) 1981 QB and 623827 Nikandrilyich are currently the lowest-numbered unnamed and highest-numbered named minor planets, respectively.[1][4]

It is expected that the upcoming survey by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will discover another 5 million minor planets during the next ten years—almost a tenfold increase from current numbers.[5] While all main-belt asteroids with a diameter above 10 km (6.2 mi) have already been discovered, there might be as many as 10 trillion 1 m (3.3 ft)-sized asteroids or larger out to the orbit of Jupiter; and more than a trillion minor planets in the Kuiper belt.[5][6] For minor planets grouped by a particular aspect or property, see § Specific lists.

Description of partial lists

The list of minor planets consists of more than 600 partial lists, each containing 1000 minor planets grouped into 10 tables. The data is sourced from the Minor Planet Center (MPC) and expanded with data from the JPL SBDB (mean-diameter), Johnston's archive (sub-classification) and others (see detailed field descriptions below). For an overview of all existing partial lists, see § Main index.

The information given for a minor planet includes a permanent and provisional designation (§ Designation), a citation that links to the meanings of minor planet names (only if named), the discovery date, location, and credited discoverers (§ Discovery and § Discoverers), a category with a more refined classification than the principal grouping represented by the background color (§ Category), a mean-diameter, sourced from JPL's SBDB or otherwise calculated estimates in italics (§ Diameter), and a reference (Ref) to the corresponding pages at MPC and JPL SBDB.

The MPC may credit one or several astronomers, a survey or similar program, or even the observatory site with the discovery. In the first column of the table, an existing stand-alone article is linked in boldface, while (self-)redirects are never linked. Discoverers, discovery site and category are only linked if they differ from the preceding catalog entry.

Example

Designation Discovery Properties Ref
Permanent Provisional Citation Date Site Discoverer(s) Category Diam.
1890014889 P-L—24 September 1960PalomarPLS—3.4 kmMPC · JPL
1890026760 P-L—24 September 1960PalomarPLSNYS960 mMPC · JPL
1890033009 T-3—16 October 1977PalomarPLS—5.1 kmMPC · JPL
189004 Capys3184 T-3Capys16 October 1977PalomarPLSL512 kmMPC · JPL
1890055176 T-3—16 October 1977PalomarPLS—3.5 kmMPC · JPL

The example above shows five catalog entries from one of the partial lists. All five asteroids were discovered at Palomar Observatory by the Palomar–Leiden survey (PLS). The MPC directly credits the survey's principal investigators, that is, the astronomers Cornelis van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels. (This is the only instance where the list of minor planets diverges from the Discovery Circumstances in the official MPC list.[7]) 189004 Capys, discovered on 16 October 1977, is the only named minor planet among these five. Its background color indicates that it is a Jupiter trojan (from the Trojan camp at Jupiter's L5), estimated to be approximately 12 kilometers in diameter. All other objects are smaller asteroids from the inner (white), central (light-grey) and outer regions (dark grey) of the asteroid belt. The provisional designation for all objects is an uncommon survey designation.

Designation

After discovery, minor planets generally receive a provisional designation, e.g. 1989 AC, then a leading sequential number in parentheses, e.g. (4179) 1989 AC, turning it into a permanent designation (numbered minor planet). Optionally, a name can be given, replacing the provisional part of the designation, e.g. 4179 Toutatis. (On Wikipedia, named minor planets also drop their parentheses.)

In modern times, a minor planet receives a sequential number only after it has been observed several times over at least 4 oppositions.[8] Minor planets whose orbits are not (yet) precisely known are known by their provisional designation. This rule was not necessarily followed in earlier times, and some bodies received a number but subsequently became lost minor planets. The 2000 recovery of 719 Albert, which had been lost for nearly 89 years, eliminated the last numbered lost asteroid.[9] Only after a number is assigned is the minor planet eligible to receive a name. Usually the discoverer has up to 10 years to pick a name; many minor planets now remain unnamed. Especially towards the end of the twentieth century, large-scale automated asteroid discovery programs such as LINEAR have increased the pace of discoveries so much that the vast majority of minor planets will most likely never receive names.

For these reasons, the sequence of numbers only approximately matches the timeline of discovery. In extreme cases, such as lost minor planets, there may be a considerable mismatch: for instance the high-numbered 69230 Hermes was originally discovered in 1937, but it was lost until 2003. Only after it was rediscovered could its orbit be established and a number assigned.

Top 10 discoverers of minor planets account for nearly 90% of all discoveries (total of 567,132 numbered bodies, as of June 2021, adjusted MPC-figures).[10][11]

Discoverers

The MPC credits more than 1,000 professional and amateur astronomers as discoverers of minor planets. Many of them have discovered only a few minor planets or even just co-discovered a single one. Moreover, a discoverer does not need to be a human being. There are about 300 programs, surveys and observatories credited as discoverers. Among these, a small group of U.S. programs and surveys actually account for most of all discoveries made so far (see pie chart). As the total of numbered minor planets is growing by the tens of thousands every year, all statistical figures are constantly changing. In contrast to the Top 10 discoverers displayed in this articles, the MPC summarizes the total of discoveries somewhat differently, that is by a distinct group of discoverers. For example, bodies discovered in the Palomar–Leiden Survey are directly credited to the program's principal investigators.

Discovery site

Observatories, telescopes and surveys that report astrometric observations of small Solar System bodies to the Minor Planet Center receive a numeric or alphanumeric MPC code such as 675 for the Palomar Observatory, or G96 for the Mount Lemmon Survey. On numbering, the MPC may directly credit such an observatory or program as the discoverer of an object, rather than one or several astronomers.

Category

In this catalog, minor planets are classified into one of 8 principal orbital groups and highlighted with a distinct color. These are:

  Near-Earth obj.     MBA (inner)   MBA (outer)   Centaur
  Mars-crosser   MBA (middle)     Jupiter trojan    Trans-Neptunian obj.
  Unclassified

The vast majority of minor planets are evenly distributed between the inner-, central and outer parts of the asteroid belt, which are separated by the two Kirkwood gaps at 2.5 and 2.82 AU. Nearly 97.5% of all minor planets are main-belt asteroids (MBA), while Jupiter trojans, Mars-crossing and near-Earth asteroids each account for less than 1% of the overall population. Only a small number of distant minor planets, that is the centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects, have been numbered so far. In the partial lists, table column "category" further refines this principal grouping:

Principal orbital groups(c) MPs (#) MPs (%) Distribution Orbital criteria
  Near-Earth object(a) 3,104 0.50%
q < 1.3 AU
  Mars-crosser 6,180 1.00% 1.3 AU < q < 1.666 AU; a < 3.2 AU
  MBA (inner) 195,710 31.74% a < 2.5 AU; q > 1.666 AU
  MBA (middle) 216,729 35.14% 2.5 AU < a < 2.82 AU; q > 1.666 AU
  MBA (outer) 187,562 30.41% 2.82 AU < a < 4.6 AU; q > 1.666 AU
  Jupiter trojan 6,300 1.02% 4.6 AU < a < 5.5 AU; e < 0.3
  Centaur 158 0.03% 5.5 AU < a < 30.1 AU
  Trans-Neptunian object 912 0.15% a > 30.1 AU
Total (numbered)616,690(b)100%Source: JPL's SBDB[20]
(a) NEO-subgroups with number of members: Aten (255), Amor (1,275), Apollo (1,566) and Atira (8) asteroids.[lower-alpha 2]
(b) Including 35 unclassified bodies: 6144 Kondojiro, 8373 Stephengould, 9767 Midsomer Norton, (18916) 2000 OG44, (32511) 2001 NX17, (96177) 1984 BC, (115916) 2003 WB8, (136620) 1994 JC, (144870) 2004 MA8, (241944) 2002 CU147, (275618) 2000 AU242, (301964) 2000 EJ37, (306418) 1998 KK56, (322713) 2000 KD41, (363135) 2001 QQ199, (393350) 1992 RN1, (405058) 2001 TX16, (406803) 2008 UX64, (477587) 2010 JT86, (487496) 2014 SE288, (490171) 2008 UD253, (494667) 2001 WX1, (497009) 2003 BU35, (497619) 2006 QL39, (504160) 2006 SV301, 514107 Kaʻepaokaʻawela, (518509) 2006 FZ51, (524114) 2000 SB1, (526889) 2007 GH6, (584530) 2017 GY10, (612078) 1998 UQ1, (612320) 2001 XE104, (613709) 2007 CM57, (613987) 2008 JO20, (614590) 2009 XY21 (colored as    for being unclassified).[lower-alpha 3]
(c) This chart has been created using a classification scheme adopted from and with data provided by the JPL Small-Body Database.[20][lower-alpha 4]

Diameter

If available, a minor planet's mean diameter in meters (m) or kilometers (km) is taken from the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which the Small-Body Database has also adopted.[21] Mean diameters are rounded to two significant figures if smaller than 100 kilometers. Estimates are in italics and calculated from a magnitude-to-diameter conversion, using an assumed albedo derived from the body's orbital parameters or, if available, from a family-specific mean albedo (also see asteroid family table).[lower-alpha 5]

Main index

This is an overview of all existing partial lists of numbered minor planets (LoMP). Each table stands for 100,000 minor planets, each cell for a specific partial list of 1,000 sequentially numbered bodies. The data is sourced from the Minor Planet Center.[1] For an introduction, see § top.

Numberings 1–100,000

1–1000 1,001 2,001 3,001 4,001 5,001 6,001 7,001 8,001 9,001
10,001 11,001 12,001 13,001 14,001 15,001 16,001 17,001 18,001 19,001
20,001 21,001 22,001 23,001 24,001 25,001 26,001 27,001 28,001 29,001
30,001 31,001 32,001 33,001 34,001 35,001 36,001 37,001 38,001 39,001
40,001 41,001 42,001 43,001 44,001 45,001 46,001 47,001 48,001 49,001
50,001 51,001 52,001 53,001 54,001 55,001 56,001 57,001 58,001 59,001
60,001 61,001 62,001 63,001 64,001 65,001 66,001 67,001 68,001 69,001
70,001 71,001 72,001 73,001 74,001 75,001 76,001 77,001 78,001 79,001
80,001 81,001 82,001 83,001 84,001 85,001 86,001 87,001 88,001 89,001
90,001 91,001 92,001 93,001 94,001 95,001 96,001 97,001 98,001 99,001

Numberings 100,001–200,000

100,001 101,001 102,001 103,001 104,001 105,001 106,001 107,001 108,001 109,001
110,001 111,001 112,001 113,001 114,001 115,001 116,001 117,001 118,001 119,001
120,001 121,001 122,001 123,001 124,001 125,001 126,001 127,001 128,001 129,001
130,001 131,001 132,001 133,001 134,001 135,001 136,001 137,001 138,001 139,001
140,001 141,001 142,001 143,001 144,001 145,001 146,001 147,001 148,001 149,001
150,001 151,001 152,001 153,001 154,001 155,001 156,001 157,001 158,001 159,001
160,001 161,001 162,001 163,001 164,001 165,001 166,001 167,001 168,001 169,001
170,001 171,001 172,001 173,001 174,001 175,001 176,001 177,001 178,001 179,001
180,001 181,001 182,001 183,001 184,001 185,001 186,001 187,001 188,001 189,001
190,001 191,001 192,001 193,001 194,001 195,001 196,001 197,001 198,001 199,001

Numberings 200,001–300,000

200,001 201,001 202,001 203,001 204,001 205,001 206,001 207,001 208,001 209,001
210,001 211,001 212,001 213,001 214,001 215,001 216,001 217,001 218,001 219,001
220,001 221,001 222,001 223,001 224,001 225,001 226,001 227,001 228,001 229,001
230,001 231,001 232,001 233,001 234,001 235,001 236,001 237,001 238,001 239,001
240,001 241,001 242,001 243,001 244,001 245,001 246,001 247,001 248,001 249,001
250,001 251,001 252,001 253,001 254,001 255,001 256,001 257,001 258,001 259,001
260,001 261,001 262,001 263,001 264,001 265,001 266,001 267,001 268,001 269,001
270,001 271,001 272,001 273,001 274,001 275,001 276,001 277,001 278,001 279,001
280,001 281,001 282,001 283,001 284,001 285,001 286,001 287,001 288,001 289,001
290,001 291,001 292,001 293,001 294,001 295,001 296,001 297,001 298,001 299,001

Numberings 300,001–400,000

300,001 301,001 302,001 303,001 304,001 305,001 306,001 307,001 308,001 309,001
310,001 311,001 312,001 313,001 314,001 315,001 316,001 317,001 318,001 319,001
320,001 321,001 322,001 323,001 324,001 325,001 326,001 327,001 328,001 329,001
330,001 331,001 332,001 333,001 334,001 335,001 336,001 337,001 338,001 339,001
340,001 341,001 342,001 343,001 344,001 345,001 346,001 347,001 348,001 349,001
350,001 351,001 352,001 353,001 354,001 355,001 356,001 357,001 358,001 359,001
360,001 361,001 362,001 363,001 364,001 365,001 366,001 367,001 368,001 369,001
370,001 371,001 372,001 373,001 374,001 375,001 376,001 377,001 378,001 379,001
380,001 381,001 382,001 383,001 384,001 385,001 386,001 387,001 388,001 389,001
390,001 391,001 392,001 393,001 394,001 395,001 396,001 397,001 398,001 399,001

Numberings 400,001–500,000

400,001 401,001 402,001 403,001 404,001 405,001 406,001 407,001 408,001 409,001
410,001 411,001 412,001 413,001 414,001 415,001 416,001 417,001 418,001 419,001
420,001 421,001 422,001 423,001 424,001 425,001 426,001 427,001 428,001 429,001
430,001 431,001 432,001 433,001 434,001 435,001 436,001 437,001 438,001 439,001
440,001 441,001 442,001 443,001 444,001 445,001 446,001 447,001 448,001 449,001
450,001 451,001 452,001 453,001 454,001 455,001 456,001 457,001 458,001 459,001
460,001 461,001 462,001 463,001 464,001 465,001 466,001 467,001 468,001 469,001
470,001 471,001 472,001 473,001 474,001 475,001 476,001 477,001 478,001 479,001
480,001 481,001 482,001 483,001 484,001 485,001 486,001 487,001 488,001 489,001
490,001 491,001 492,001 493,001 494,001 495,001 496,001 497,001 498,001 499,001

Numberings 500,001–600,000

500,001 501,001 502,001 503,001 504,001 505,001 506,001 507,001 508,001 509,001
510,001 511,001 512,001 513,001 514,001 515,001 516,001 517,001 518,001 519,001
520,001 521,001 522,001 523,001 524,001 525,001 526,001 527,001 528,001 529,001
530,001 531,001 532,001 533,001 534,001 535,001 536,001 537,001 538,001 539,001
540,001 541,001 542,001 543,001 544,001 545,001 546,001 547,001 548,001 549,001
550,001 551,001 552,001 553,001 554,001 555,001 556,001 557,001 558,001 559,001
560,001 561,001 562,001 563,001 564,001 565,001 566,001 567,001 568,001 569,001
570,001 571,001 572,001 573,001 574,001 575,001 576,001 577,001 578,001 579,001
580,001 581,001 582,001 583,001 584,001 585,001 586,001 587,001 588,001 589,001
590,001 591,001 592,001 593,001 594,001 595,001 596,001 597,001 598,001 599,001

Numberings 600,001–700,000

600,001 601,001 602,001 603,001 604,001 605,001 606,001 607,001 608,001 609,001
610,001 611,001 612,001 613,001 614,001 615,001 616,001 617,001 618,001 619,001
620,001 621,001 622,001 623,001 624,001 625,001 626,001 627,001 628,001 629,001
630,001 631,001 632,001 633,001 634,001 635,001 636,001 637,001 638,001 639,001
640,001 641,001 642,001 643,001 644,001 645,001 646,001 647,001 648,001 649,001
650,001 651,001 652,001 653,001 654,001 655,001 656,001 657,001 658,001 659,001
660,001 661,001 662,001 663,001 664,001 665,001 666,001 667,001 668,001 669,001
670,001 671,001 672,001 673,001 674,001 675,001 676,001 677,001 678,001 679,001
680,001 681,001 682,001 683,001 684,001 685,001 686,001 687,001 688,001 689,001
690,001 691,001 692,001 693,001 694,001 695,001 696,001 697,001 698,001 699,001

Specific lists

Euler diagram showing the types of bodies in the Solar System (see Small Solar System body).

The following are lists of minor planets by physical properties, orbital properties, or discovery circumstances:

See also

Other lists

Notes

  1. ↑ There are two sources used to determine asteroid families by the synthetic hierarchical clustering method. The first one, Identification and Dynamical Properties of Asteroid Families (D. Nesvorný, 2014), is used for asteroids up to number 393,347. The second one is from the Asteroid Dynamic Site (AstDyS) and covers the individual asteroid family membership for bodies above that number (A. Milani, Z. Knežević, 2014), including all listed bodies that have been numbered since last publication in 2018. Following 8 families from latter were mapped to family names of former: Hertha→Nysa, Minerva→Gefion, Klytaemnestra→Telramund, Lydia→Padua, Innes→Rafita, Zdenekhorsky→Nemesis, Klumpkea→Tirela, Gantrisch→Lixiaohua, Harig→Witt. All other families not listed by Nesvorný at AstDyS do not show an abbreviated family name with a linked "Family Identification Number" (FIN). Instead, listed entries for such members give the designation of their parent body, e.g. (5) for 5 Astraea.
  2. 1 2 Split-up of NEOs into Amor, Aten, Apollo and Atira asteroid is based on the orbital criteria given in adjunct table. The data is sourced from JPL Small-Body Orbital Elements "Numbered Asteroids (50 MB)" file
  3. ↑ There are a few minor planets that remain unclassified based on the defined orbital criteria. At least five of these bodies have a semi-major axis too large to be an outer main-belt asteroid, and an orbit too eccentric to be classified as a Jupiter trojan (JPL classifies these bodies simply as "asteroids", while the MPC, which never distinguishes between inner, outer and middle MBAs, classifies them as "main-belt asteroids"). Other unclassified minor planets include Mars-crossers (as per MPC) with a semi-major axis of that of an outer-MBA (as per JPL).
  4. ↑ This table adopts the orbital criteria used by the JPL Small-Body Database, with the exception of (1.) using a different limit to categorize asteroids of the intermediate main belt (i.e. a = 2.5–2.82 AU), and (2.) adding another orbital criteria to outer MBAs (q > 1.666 AU).
    The values for an object's perihelion and aphelion need to be derived from the semi-major axis and the eccentricity as they are not provided in the data source (q = a(1-e); Q = a(1+e)).
  5. ↑ Diameters are calculated as a function of absolute magnitude (H) and geometric albedo (p) as documented at CNEOS. While "H" is taken from the Ascii files at the Small Body Data Base, the assumed albedo is taken from an asteroid-family specific figure (Nesvorny, synthetic HCM v.3, as shown in table) or, alternatively – for background asteroids, Jupiter trojans, near-Earth and distant objects – from the body's orbital parameters (as per 2. Taxonomic Class, orbital class, and albedo at the LCDB and/or Johnston's Archive). This is: 0.20 (inner MBAs), 0.14 (NEOs), 0.057 (outer MBAs and Jupiter trojans), 0.10 (middle MBAs with a semi-major axis between 2.6 and 2.7 AU), 0.09 (centaurs and TNOs). The conversion formula for a given albedo and abs. magnitude is: pow(10, (3.1236 − (0.5 × log10(p)) − (0.2 × H))).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets". Minor Planet Center. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  3. ↑ "Latest Published Data". Minor Planet Center. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  4. 1 2 "WGSBN Bulletin Archive". Working Group Small Body Nomenclature. 24 October 2022.
  5. 1 2 Jones, R. Lynne; Juric, Mario; Ivezic, Zeljko (January 2016). "Asteroid Discovery and Characterization with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope". Asteroids: New Observations. 318: 282–292. arXiv:1511.03199. Bibcode:2016IAUS..318..282J. doi:10.1017/S1743921315008510. S2CID 8193676.
  6. ↑ Bidstrup, P. R.; Andersen, A. C.; Haack, H.; Michelsen, R. (August 2008). "How to detect another 10 trillion small Main Belt asteroids". Physica Scripta. 130: 014027. Bibcode:2008PhST..130a4027B. doi:10.1088/0031-8949/2008/T130/014027. S2CID 121429332.
  7. ↑ "Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (185001)–(190000)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  8. ↑ An opposition is the time when a body is at its furthest apparent point from the Sun, and in this case is defined as the time when an asteroid is far enough from the Sun to be observed from the Earth. In most cases, this is about 4 to 6 months a year. Some notable minor planets are exceptions to this rule, such as 367943 Duende.
  9. ↑ Cowen, Ron (1 November 2002). "Astronomers Rediscover Long-Lost Asteroid". Science News. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "Data Available from the Minor Planet Center: Discovery circumstances of the numbered minor planets, NumberedMPs.txt (52 MB)". Minor Planet Center. 27 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 17 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "Small Bodies Data Ferret". Nesvorny HCM Asteroid Families V3.0. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "List Of Jupiter Trojans". Minor Planet Center. 12 June 2022.
  14. 1 2 "Data Available from the Minor Planet Center – MPCORB.DAT". Minor Planet Center. 27 October 2022. (doc)
  15. ↑ "List of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs)". Minor Planet Center. 21 June 2022.
  16. ↑ Johnston, Wm. Robert (2 January 2022). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "List Of Other Unusual Objects". Minor Planet Center. 21 June 2022.
  18. ↑ Johnston, Wm. Robert (18 June 2022). "Asteroids with Satellites". Johnston's Archive.
  19. ↑ Warner, Brian D.; Harris, Alan W.; Pravec, Petr (July 2009). "The asteroid lightcurve database". Icarus. 202 (1): 134–146. Bibcode:2009Icar..202..134W. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009.02.003. (LCDB query form)
  20. 1 2 "JPL Small-Body Orbital Elements "Numbered Asteroids (68.6 MB)"". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  21. ↑ "NEOWISE Diameters and Albedos". PDS Small Bodies Node. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.

Further reading

Minor Planet Center
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