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The catalog of minor planets is published by the Minor Planet Center and contains more than half a million entries, including 134340 Pluto.^[1] For an overview, see index.

Growing number of minor planets since 1995:

• 
       numbered and named minor planets


• 
       numbered but unnamed minor planets


• 
       unnumbered minor planets (not part of this list)

The following is a list of numbered minor planets in numerical order. Minor planets are all small bodies in the Solar System, including dwarf planets, with the exception of comets. The catalog consists of hundreds of pages, each containing 1000 minor planets. Every month, several thousand minor planets are newly numbered by the Minor Planet Center on behalf of the International Astronomical Union (see index).^[1] As of October 2018^[update], there are 523,824 numbered minor planets (secured discoveries) out of a total of 789,069 observed bodies.^[2][3]

The catalog's first object is 1 Ceres, discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in January 1801, while its best-known entry is Pluto, listed as 134340 Pluto. The vast majority (97%) 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 LINEAR, Spacewatch, MLS, NEAT and CSS. There are also 21,348 named minor planets mostly after people, places and figures from mythology and fiction.^[3] Approximately 96% of all numbered catalog entries remain unnamed. The Jupiter trojan (3708) 1974 FV1 is currently the lowest-numbered unnamed minor planet.^[4]

It is expected that the upcoming survey by the LSST will discover another 5 million minor planets during the next ten years—a tenfold increase from current numbers.^[5] While all asteroids with a diameter above 10 kilometers have already been discovered, there might be as many as 10 trillion 1-meter-sized asteroids or larger out to the orbit of Jupiter; and more than a trillion minor planets in the Kuiper belt of which hundreds are likely dwarf planets.^[5][6]

For specific lists on physical, orbital and other properties, as well as on discovery circumstances and other aspects, see § Specific minor planet lists

Partial lists

The list of minor planets consists of more than 500 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.

Example

The example above shows five catalog entries from one of the partial lists. The table includes the columns § Designation ,§ Discovery, and § Discoverers, giving a minor planet's permanent and provisional designation, its discovery date and location, and the officially credited discoverer, respectively. (The MPC may credit one or several astronomers, a survey or similar program, or the observatory site with the discovery.) In column "category" an object's membership to a collisional family, dynamical group or Trojan camp is displayed. The body's rounded mean-diameter (⌀) is sourced from JPL's SBDB with otherwise calculated estimates given in italics (see § Diameter). For each catalog entry, there is an external link to the MPC object page in column reference (Ref). The meaning of a minor planet's name is also linked.

In this example, all five asteroids were discovered at Palomar Observatory by a trio of astronomers: Cornelis van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels. (Note: discoverers, discovery site and category are only linked if they differ from the preceding catalog entry). The background color represents a minor planet's principal orbital group—cyan is used for Jupiter trojans, while a white to grey color is for asteroids of the inner (white), central (light-grey) and outer regions (dark grey) of the asteroid belt. For more information, see § Orbital groups. In the example, one main-belt asteroid belongs to the Nysa family (NYS), while the others are from the background population, marked with "—". Column "permanent designation" displays a minor planet's number and name. While all catalog entries must have a number, 189004 Capys is the only one that has also received a name. In this column, stand-alone articles about the object are linked (in boldface; while redirects are not linked). The provisional designation in this example is an uncommon survey designation.

• 
    LINEAR: 148,677 (29.4%)


• 
    Spacewatch: 139,773 (27.6%)


• 
    Mt. Lemmon Srvy..: 57,317 (11.3%)


• 
    NEAT: 41,174 (8.1%)


• 
    CSS: 26,815 (5.3%)


• 
    LONEOS: 22,190 (4.4%)


• 
    Palomar–Leiden Srvy.: 4,638 (0.9%)


• 
    Eric Elst: 3,868 (0.8%)


• 
    WISE: 3,610 (0.7%)


• 
    Pan-STARRS: 3,351 (0.7%)


• 
    All others: 54,997 (10.9%)

Top 10 discoverers of minor planets account for nearly 90% of all discoveries (as of November 2017; total of 506,410 numbered bodies; corrected MPC-figures).^[7][8]

Discoverers

The MPC credits more than 1000 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 thousands on a monthly basis, all statistical figures are constantly changing. Note that the MPC summarizes the total of discoveries somewhat differently (typically by distinct group of discoverers), for example, bodies discovered in the Palomar–Leiden Survey are directly credited to the trio of astronomers as displayed in the above table.

Designation

After discovery, minor planets generally receive a provisional designation, e.g. 1989 AC, then a leading sequential number in parenthesis, 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. (Note that on Wikipedia, named minor planets also drop their parenthesis.)

In modern times, a minor planet receives a sequential number only after it has been observed several times over at least 4 oppositions.^[9] 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.^[10]

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 the reasons mentioned above, 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 a lost until 2003. Only after it was rediscovered could its orbit be established and a number assigned.

Discovery site

Observatories, telescopes and surveys that report astrometric observations of small Solar System bodies to the MPC receive a numeric or alphanumeric code such as 675 for the Palomar Observatory, or I41 for the Palomar Transient Factory, a dedicated survey that was conducted at Palomar Observatory during 2009–2012. On numbering, such an observatory may directly be credited by the MPC as discoverer.

Orbital groups

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

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:

• main-belt asteroids show their family membership based on the synthetic hierarchical clustering method by Nesvorný (2014),^[11][a]
  


• 
  resonant asteroids are displayed by their numerical ratio and include the Hildas (3:2), Cybeles (7:4), Thules (4:3) and Griquas (2:1), while the Jupiter trojans (1:1) display whether they belong to the Greek (L₄) or Trojan camp (L₅),^[12]
  


• near-Earth objects are divided into the Aten (ATE), Amor (AMO), Apollo (APO), and Atira (ATI) group,^[b] with some of them being potentially hazardous asteroids (PHA)^[13]
  


• trans-Neptunian objects are divided into dynamical subgroups such as cubewanos, scattered disc objects, plutinos and other Neptunian resonances.^[14]
  


• 
  Comet-like and/or retrograde damocloids with low T_Jupiter are tagged with damocloid
  


• 
  Other unusual objects based on MPC's and Johnston's list are labelled unusual
  

Principal orbital groups(c)	MPs (#)	MPs (%)	Distribution	Orbital criteria
Near-Earth object(a)	2,791	0.53%		q < 1.3 AU
Mars-crosser	5,151	0.98%		1.3 AU < q < 1.666 AU; a < 3.2 AU
MBA (inner)	172,411	32.91%		a < 2.5 AU; q > 1.666 AU
MBA (middle)	183,271	34.99%		2.5 AU < a < 2.82 AU; q > 1.666 AU
MBA (outer)	154,660	29.53%		2.82 AU < a < 4.6 AU; q > 1.666 AU
Jupiter trojan	4,869	0.93%		4.6 AU < a < 5.5 AU; e < 0.3
Centaur	116	0.02%		5.5 AU < a < 30.1 AU
Trans-Neptunian object	529	0.10%		a > 30.1 AU
Total (numbered)	523,824(b)	100%		Source: JPL's SBDB[8]

^(a) NEO-subgroups with number of members: Aten (224), Amor (1,152), Apollo (1,409) and Atira (6) asteroids.^[b]

^(b) Including 26 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, (363814) 2005 ND₇, (389895) 2012 TB₁₄, (405058) 2001 TX₁₆, (477587) 2010 JT₈₆, (487496) 2014 SE₂₈₈, (490171) 2008 UD₂₅₃, (494667) 2001 WX₁, (497619) 2006 QL₃₉, (504160) 2006 SV₃₀₁, (514107) 2015 BZ₅₀₉, (518509) 2006 FZ₅₁ (colored as    for being unclassified).^[c]

^(c) This chart has been created using a classification scheme adopted from and with data provided by the JPL Small-Body Database.^[8][d]

Diameter

If available, a minor planet's mean diameter (⌀), in meters (m) or kilometers (km) is taken from the Small-Body Database. These figures were typically published by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. 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).^[e]

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

Numberings 100,001–200,000

Numberings 200,001–300,000

Numberings 300,001–400,000

Numberings 400,001–500,000

Numberings 500,001–600,000

Specific minor planet 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:
selves into a sphere.

• 
  List of exceptional asteroids (physical properties)
  
  
  
  • List of slow rotators (minor planets)
  
  
  • List of fast rotators (minor planets)
  
  
  • List of tumblers (small Solar System bodies)
  
  
  
  


• List of instrument-resolved minor planets


• List of Jupiter trojans (Greek camp)


• List of Jupiter trojans (Trojan camp)


• List of minor planets visited by spacecraft


• List of minor planet moons


• List of minor-planet groups


• List of named minor planets (alphabetical)


• List of named minor planets (numerical)


• List of possible dwarf planets


• List of trans-Neptunian objects


• 
  List of unnumbered minor planets
  
  • List of unnumbered trans-Neptunian objects
  
  


• 
  Meanings of minor planet names
  
  
  
  • List of minor planets named after people
  
  
  • List of minor planets named after places
  
  
  • List of minor planets named after rivers
  
  
  • List of minor planets named after animals and plants
  
  
  
  

See also

• Binary asteroid


• 
  Dwarf planets – Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake
  


• 
  Kuiper belt (This is the other major ring of bodies in the solar system, around 30-60 AU and home to Pluto)


• Minor-planet moon


• Trans-Neptunian object

Other lists

• List of comets


• Planet § Objects formerly considered planets

Notes

References

Further reading

• 
  Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, 5th ed.: Prepared on Behalf of Commission 20 Under the Auspices of the International Astronomical Union, Lutz D. Schmadel,
  ISBN 3-540-00238-3
  


• 
  The Names of the Minor Planets, Paul Herget, 1968,
  OCLC 224288991
  

External links

• SBN Small Bodies Data Archive


• 
  JPL Minor Planet Database for physical and orbital data (of any Small Solar System Body or dwarf planet)


• 
  Scott Manley's timelapse animation of Asteroid Discovery 1980–2012 on YouTube (min. 3:13)
  

Minor Planet Center

• Lists and plots: Minor Planets


• 
  MPC Discovery Circumstances (minor planets by number)


• 
  CNEOS, Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, NASA


• PDS Asteroid Data Archive


• 
  Asteroid Hazards, Part 1: What Makes an Asteroid a Hazard? on YouTube (min. 6:04)
  


• 
  Asteroid Hazards, Part 2: The Challenge of Detection on YouTube (min. 7:14)
  


• 
  Asteroid Hazards, Part 3: Finding the Path on YouTube (min. 5:38)