List of minor planets

The catalog of minor planets is published by the Minor Planet Center and contains 740,000 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 (essentially the same as asteroids) in ascending numerical order. Minor planets are defined as small bodies in the Solar System, including asteroids, distant objects, and dwarf planets, but not including comets. 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 December 2024^[update], there are 756,999 numbered minor planets (secured discoveries) out of a total of 1,386,752 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 24,985 named minor planets mostly after people, places and figures from mythology and fiction,^[4] which account for only 3.3% of all numbered catalog entries. (4596) 1981 QB and 734551 Monin 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.

The list of minor planets consists of more than 700 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.

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.

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.

•   Spacewatch: 216,023 (29.2%)
•   LINEAR: 152,479 (20.6%)
•   Mt. Lemmon Srvy.: 127,337 (17.2%)
•   Pan-STARRS: 51,038 (6.9%)
•   NEAT: 49,327 (6.7%)
•   CSS: 34,085 (4.6%)
•   LONEOS: 23,514 (3.2%)
•   WISE: 5,890 (0.8%)
•   Palomar–Leiden Srvy.: 4,641 (0.6%)
•   Siding Spring Survey: 4,082 (0.6%)
•   All others: 71,584 (9.7%)

Top 10 discoverers of minor planets account for more than 90% of all discoveries (total of 740,000 numbered bodies, as of 28 September 2024, adjusted MPC-figures).^[10][11]

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.

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.

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),^[12][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),^[13]
• Hungaria asteroids (H), are labelled in italics (H), when they are not members of the collisional family^[14]
• 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),^[15] and/or larger than one kilometer in diameter (+1km) as determined by the MPC.^[14]
• trans-Neptunian objects are divided into dynamical subgroups including cubewanos (hot or cold), scattered disc objects, plutinos and other Neptunian resonances,^[16]
• comet-like and/or retrograde objects with a T_Jupiter value below 2 are tagged with damocloid,
• other unusual objects based on MPC's and Johnston's lists are labelled unusual,^[17]
• binary and trinary minor planets with companions are tagged with "moon" and link to their corresponding entry in minor-planet moon,^[18]
• objects with an exceptionally long or short rotation period are tagged with "slow" (period of 100+ hours) or "fast" (period of less than 2.2 hours) and link to their corresponding entry in List of slow rotators and List of fast rotators, respectively.^[19]
• minor planets which also received a periodic-comet number (such as 95P/Chiron for 2060 Chiron) link to the List of numbered comets

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.^[b]

^(b) Including 37 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, (669525) 2012 XO₁₄₄, (694001) 2015 PC₅₈ (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.^[20][d]

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).^[e]

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.

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

• 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 centaurs (small Solar System bodies)
• 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

• Lists of astronomical objects
• Binary asteroid
• Dwarf planets – top ten most likely: Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, Gonggong, Quaoar, Sedna, Ceres, Orcus, Salacia
• Kuiper belt (A major ring of bodies in the Solar System, around 30-60 AU and home to Pluto)
• Minor-planet moon
• Trans-Neptunian object

• List of comets
• Planet § Objects formerly considered planets

• 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

• How Many Solar System Bodies, Jet Propulsion Laboratory – Small-Body Database
• 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)

This article includes an astronomy-related list of lists.