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| Near-Earth obj. | MBA (inner) | MBA (outer) | Centaur |
| Mars-crosser | MBA (middle) | Jupiter trojan | Trans-Neptunian obj. |
| Unclassified | |||
This is a list of minor planets which contains hundreds of thousands of numbered minor planets, such as asteroids, centaurs, dwarf planets, trojans and trans-Neptunian objects of the Solar System. The list is ordered numerically and divided into partial list, each containing 1000 minor planets. The first partial list is List of minor planets: 1–1000. A complete overview of all such lists can be found in the index section.
As of March 2016[ref] there are 464,622 numbered minor planets, of which 19,855 minor planets have been given names.[1] The Jupiter trojan (3708) 1974 FV1 is currently the lowest-numbered unnamed minor planet.
Mention: Meanings of minor planet names. Mention: there are also 245,084 unnumbered (see List of unnumbered minor planets) bringing the total of discovered minor planet to about 700,000. Mention distinction numbered/unnumbered. Mention comets not included.[1][2]
Partial lists
editThe list of minor planets consists of about 500 partial list, each containing 1000 minor planets grouped in 10 tables. The data is sourced from the Minor Planet Center (MPC). For an overview of all existing partial lists, see § Main index.
Example
edit| Designation | Discovery | Properties | Ref | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent | Provisional | Citation | Date | Site | Discoverer(s) | Category | Diam. | |
| 189001 | 4889 P-L | September 24, 1960 | Palomar | C. J. van Houten, I. van Houten-Groeneveld, T. Gehrels | MPC | |||
| 189002 | 6760 P-L | September 24, 1960 | Palomar | C. J. van Houten, I. van Houten-Groeneveld, T. Gehrels | MPC | |||
| 189003 | 3009 T-3 | October 16, 1977 | Palomar | C. J. van Houten, I. van Houten-Groeneveld, T. Gehrels | MPC | |||
| 189004 Capys | 3184 T-3 | October 16, 1977 | Palomar | C. J. van Houten, I. van Houten-Groeneveld, T. Gehrels | MPC | |||
| 189005 | 5176 T-3 | October 16, 1977 | Palomar | C. J. van Houten, I. van Houten-Groeneveld, T. Gehrels | MPC | |||
The example above shows the beginning of the first table in partial list 189,001 to 190,000. It has the columns § Designation showing its permanent (number and name) and provisional designation, § Discovery, giving the date and location of its discovery, § Discoverers, people, surveys, programs and observatories that are officially credited with its discovery, and a reference column that externally links to the body's dedicated page at the Minor Planet Center's website.
In this example, all 5 bodies were discovered at Palomar Observatory by the trio of astronomers: Cornelis van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels. The rows different colors represent the minor planet's orbital classes: cyan is used for Jupiter-trojans, white and grey colors are used for asteroids of the inner, middle and outer regions of the asteroid belt. As only 189004 Capys has been named yet, the other four bodies only display their number in the permanent designation column. The provisional designation displayed in this example is are rare survey designation.
- LINEAR: 146,844 (31.3%)
- Spacewatch: 123,523 (26.3%)
- Mt. Lemmon Surv.: 46,482 (9.9%)
- NEAT: 40,706 (8.7%)
- CSS: 24,521 (5.2%)
- LONEOS: 21,692 (4.6%)
- Palomar-Leiden Surv.: 4,639 (1.0%)
- Eric Walter Elst: 3,865 (0.8%)
- Siding Spring Surv.: 2,645 (0.6%)
- WISE: 2,544 (0.5%)
- Others: 51,814 (11.0%)
Discoverers
editThe 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
edit
After discovery, asteroids generally receive a provisional designation (such as "1989 AC"), then a sequential number (such as 4179), and finally (optionally) a name (such as "Toutatis"), in that order.
In modern times, an asteroid receives a sequential number only after it has been observed several times over at least 4 oppositions.[3] Asteroids whose orbits are not (yet) precisely known are known by their provisional designation. This rule was not necessarily followed in earlier times, and some asteroids received a number but subsequently became lost asteroids. All of these have now been recovered; the last "lost" numbered asteroid was 719 Albert.
Only after a number is assigned is the asteroid eligible to receive a name. Usually the discoverer has up to 10 years to pick a name; some asteroids remain unnamed. Especially towards the end of the twentieth century, with large-scale automated asteroid discovery programs such as LINEAR, the pace of discoveries has increased so much that it seems likely that the vast majority of minor planets will 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 asteroids, 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
editAll observatories that officially are a site where minor planets are discovered have received a numeric or alphanumeric code such as 675 for the Palomar Observatory, or I41 for the Palomar Transient Factory a dedicated survey that runs at Palomar Mountain.
Index
editThis index displays several hundreds of partial lists, each containing 1000 minor planets, sorted by their given number. A partial list starts with the number displayed below. Articles about minor planets are linked from, and non-notable (named) minor planets are linked to the corresponding partial list.
Mention: description of columns: designation (permanent/provisional), discovery (site and date), discoverers (incl. co-discoveries, team-discoveries) and source (Ref, Minor Planet Center). Current status /number of lists.
Minor planets from 1 to 100,000
editMinor planets from 100,001 to 200,000
editMinor planets from 200,001 to 300,000
editMinor planets from 300,001 to 400,000
editMinor planets from 400,001 to 500,000
editList columns
editIntro here
Orbital classification
edit- Data source
The colorization is based on the data found in "Numbered Asteroids (50 MB)", an ASCII text-file from JPL's Small-Body Orbital Elements page. The data file was completed for perihelion, q=a(1-e), and aphelion, Q=a(1+e)
- As of August 2016, among the 474,120 bodies, six were unclassified. Most of these (if not all) were bodies with a semi-major axis too large to be outer main-belt asteroids, but also too eccentric to count as a Jupiter trojan.
| Orbital Class | #MPs | %MPs | Distribution | Criterias |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| near-Earth obj. | 2176 | (0.46%) |
|
q < 1.3 AU ; ATE (189), AMO (866), APO (1116), ATI(5) |
| Mars-crosser | 4418 | (0.93%) | 1.3 AU < q < 1.666 AU; a < 3.2 AU | |
| MBA (inner) | 159480 | (33.64%) | a < 2.5 AU; q > 1.666 AU | |
| MBA (middle) | 165614 | (34.93%) | 2.5 AU < a < 2.82 AU; q > 1.666 AU | |
| MBA (outer) | 137489 | (29.00%) | 2.82 AU < a < 4.6 AU | |
| Jupiter trojan | 4520 | (0.95%) | 4.6 AU < a < 5.5 AU; e < 0.3 | |
| Centaur | 85 | (0.02%) | 5.5 AU < a < 30.1 AU | |
| trans-Neptunian obj. | 332 | (0.07%) | a > 30.1 AU | |
| Numbered MPs | 474114 | 100% |
Census MPC
editBased Orbital classification, src: MPC summary], there are:
| Category | #count |
|---|---|
| Atiras | 24 |
| Atens | 1,063 |
| Apollos | 7,254 |
| Amors | 6,328 |
| Hungarias | 15,652 |
| Mars-crossers | 12,421 |
| Main-belt asteroids | 670,139 |
| Hildas | 3,798 |
| Jupiter-trojans | 6,594 |
| Distant Objects | 2,569 |
| Dwarf planets | 5 |
| Minor planets (unnumbered) | 245,550 |
| Minor planets (numbered) | 469,275 |
| Minor planets (total) | 718,770 |
| Category | #count |
|---|---|
| Atiras | 24 |
| Atens | 1063 |
| Apollos | 7252 |
| Amors | 6330 |
| Hungarias | 15682 |
| Mars-crossers | 12404 |
| Main-belt asteroids | 669905 |
| Hildas | 3787 |
| Jupiter-trojans | 6581 |
| Distant Objects | 2568 |
| Dwarf planets | 5 |
| Minor planets (unnumbered) | 243648 |
| Minor planets (numbered) | 474120 |
| Minor planets (total) | 721713 |
The count also includes 5 officially recognized dwarf planets by the IAU. Ceres, in the main-belt, and four distant objects, Pluto, Haumea, Eris and Makemake.
Designation
edit Provisional and permanent designations
editAfter discovery, asteroids generally receive a provisional designation (such as "1989 AC"), then a sequential number (such as 4179), and finally (optionally) a name (such as "Toutatis"), in that order.
In modern times, an asteroid receives a sequential number only after it has been observed several times over at least 4 oppositions[6]. Asteroids whose orbits are not (yet) precisely known are known by their provisional designation. This rule was not necessarily followed in earlier times, and some asteroids received a number but became subsequently lost asteroid . All of these have now been recovered; the last "lost" numbered asteroid was 719 Albert.
Only after a number is assigned is the asteroid eligible to receive a name. Usually the discoverer has up to 10 years to pick a name; some asteroids remain unnamed. Especially towards the end of the twentieth century, with large-scale automated asteroid discovery programs such as LINEAR, the pace of discoveries has increased so much that it seems likely that the vast majority of minor planets will 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 asteroids, 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.
- LINEAR: 146,844 (31.3%)
- Spacewatch: 123,523 (26.3%)
- Mt. Lemmon Surv.: 46,482 (9.9%)
- NEAT: 40,706 (8.7%)
- CSS: 24,521 (5.2%)
- LONEOS: 21,692 (4.6%)
- Palomar-Leiden Surv.: 4,639 (1.0%)
- Eric Walter Elst: 3,865 (0.8%)
- Siding Spring Surv.: 2,645 (0.6%)
- WISE: 2,544 (0.5%)
- Others: 51,814 (11.0%)
Discoverers
editIntro:
- Discovery rules by the MPC,
- changes in rules.
- Non-person discoverers.
- Summary break-up of top10 discoverers
Discoverer Pie chart
- visualization, estimated "Others", PLS vs. Gehrls, van Houtens hack
- TODOs:
- extraction 500k: count instances of "C. J. van Houten, I. van Houten-Groeneveld, T. Gehrels" for PLS and add item to SUMMARY (as per MPDiscNum total is 4,620)
- Add PLS to table (spcl background for row), use "note" to explain
- Count items in 500k and subtract Top10 from total to obtain "Others"
- Another "note" for "Elst", as count includes co-discoveries (as per MPDiscNum there are 107 co-discoveries)
- explain discrepancies with MPDiscNum
Discovery date and site
editTodo description of discovery site.
Specific minor planet lists
editThe following are lists of minor planets by physical properties, orbital properties, or discovery circumstances: selves into a sphere.
- List of possible dwarf planets
- List of exceptional asteroids – for example, asteroids with a highly inclined orbit, particularly large, fast or slowly rotating
- 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 notable asteroids
- List of possible dwarf planets
- List of trans-Neptunian objects
- List of unnumbered minor planets (about 34% of minor planets as of March 2016)
- Meanings of minor planet names
Index-variation with count boxes
editFictitious example using color boxes to give the number of NEOs, MCs, JTs, CENs and TNOs (or non-MBAs) per partial page:
| Range | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10,000 | 3 7 8 1 – | 18 25 16 – – | 5 4 8 1 – | 5 8 8 1 – | 5 2 8 1 – | 5 12 8 1 – | 5 22 8 1 – | 5 12 8 1 – | 5 – 8 1 – | 5 2 8 1 – |
| 10,001–20,000 | 22 11 10 1 1 | 12 11 10 4 1 | 2 11 10 – 1 | 31 11 10 3 1 | 41 11 10 5 1 | 12 11 10 1 1 | 36 11 10 14 1 | 19 11 10 – 1 | 23 11 10 – 1 | 11 11 10 2 1 |
| 20,001–30,000 | 15 24 8 2 0 | 41 11 8 2 0 | 25 74 22 2 0 | 31 24 18 2 0 | 15 24 8 2 0 | 14 13 41 2 0 | 15 45 11 2 0 | 22 14 21 2 0 | 15 24 44 2 0 | 10 20 21 2 0 |
| 30,001–40,000 | 15 24 8 2 0 | 31 21 23 2 – | 33 31 14 2 0 | 15 24 12 2 10 | 45 12 18 2 5 | 24 24 8 2 – | – 45 8 2 – | 15 55 22 2 – | 12 24 15 2 – | 25 5 19 2 – |
| 40,001–50,000 | 15 24 8 – 0 | 31 24 21 2 – | 22 24 33 2 – | 43 18 41 2 – | 29 31 – 2 – | 33 9 8 2 – | 35 24 5 2 4 | 27 2 31 2 2 | 25 17 19 2 3 | 19 24 23 2 – |
| 50,001–60,000 | 15 24 8 2 0 | 22 11 10 2 5 | 15 31 74 2 1 | 15 41 49 2 10 | 15 21 42 2 22 | 24 22 8 9 – | 6 31 10 – 2 | 15 29 9 2 – | 29 14 31 5 – | 37 39 22 – – |
See also
edit- Asteroid belt
- Binary asteroid
- Dwarf planets – Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake
- Jupiter trojan
- Kuiper belt
- Minor Planet Center
- Minor-planet moon
- Trans-Neptunian object
Other lists
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Minor Planet Statistics". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
- ^ "Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
- ^ An opposition is the time when an asteroid 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 asteroids are exceptions to this rule, such as 367943 Duende.
- ^ "Minor Planet Statistics – Orbits and Names". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
- ^ "Running Tallies – Minor Planets Discovered". IAU Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
- ^ An opposition is the time when an asteroid 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 asteroids are exceptions to this rule, such as 367943 Duende.
- MPC Archive Statistics (amount of observations, orbits and names)
- MPC Discovery Circumstances (minor planets by number)
Further reading
edit- 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
edit- Discovery Circumstances Numbered Minor Planets
- Lists and plots: Minor Planets
- NASA Near Earth Object Program
- PDS Asteroid Data Archive
- SBN Small Bodies Data Archive
- JPL Minor Planet Database for physical and orbital data (of any Small Solar System Body or dwarf planet)
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