List Of Noteworthy Asteroids

Note: each asteroid is given a unique sequential identifying number after its orbit is precisely determined. Prior to this, asteroids are known only by their systematic name or Provisional Designation , such as "1950 DA".

LARGEST KNOWN ASTEROIDS

The number of bodies grows rapidly as the size decreases. For example, there are estimated to be another twelve asteroids with diameters between 200 and 224 km.

The inner main belt (defined as the region interior to the 3:1 Kirkwood Gap at 2.50 AU) has few large asteroids. Only 4 Vesta and 9 Metis qualify for the above list.

For a listing by mass see Here .

RETROGRADE AND HIGH-INCLINATION ASTEROIDS

Asteroids with orbital inclinations greater than 90° orbit in a Retrograde direction.
There are only eight (as of August 2004 ) retrograde asteroids known, only two of which are numbered. This makes them the rarest group of all. High-inclination asteroids are either Mars-crossers (probably in the process of being ejected from the solar system) or Damocloid s.

OTHER NOTEWORTHY MINOR PLANETS

SPACECRAFT TARGETS

ASTEROIDS WITH THE SAME OR SIMILAR NAMES AS MOONS

NUMBERED ASTEROIDS THAT ARE ALSO COMETS

Note there are a quite a few other cases where a non-numbered asteroid with only a systematic designation (such as ) turned out to be a comet. The above table lists only numbered asteroids that are also comets.

ASTEROIDS THAT WERE MISNAMED AND RENAMED

In earlier times, before the modern numbering and naming rules were in effect, asteroids were sometimes given numbers and names before their orbits were precisely known. And in a few cases duplicate names were given to the same object (with modern use of computers to calculate and compare orbits with old recorded positions, this type of error no longer occurs). This led to a few cases where asteroids had to be renamed. {Link without Title}

330 Adalberta

--- An object discovered March 18 , 1892 by Max Wolf with provisional designation "1892 X" was named 330 Adalberta , but was lost and never recovered. In 1982 it was determined that the observations leading to the designation of 1892 X were stars, and the object never existed. The name and number 330 Adalberta was then reused for another asteroid discovered by Max Wolf on February 2 , 1910 , which had the provisional designation A910 CB.

525 Adelaide

--- The object A904 EB discovered March 14 , 1904 by Max Wolf was named 525 Adelaide and was subsequently lost. Later, the object 1930 TA discovered October 3 , 1930 by Sylvain Arend was named 1171 Rusthawelia . In those pre-computer days, it was not realized until 1958 that these were one and the same object. The name Rusthawelia was kept (and discovery credited to Arend); the name 525 Adelaide was reused for the object 1908 EKa discovered October 21 , 1908 by Joel Hastings Metcalf .

715 Transvaalia and 933 Susi

--- The object 1911 LX discovered April 22 , 1911 by H. E. Wood was named 715 Transvaalia . On April 23 , 1920 , the object 1920 GZ was discovered and named 933 Susi . In 1928 it was realized that these were one and the same object. The name Transvaalia was kept, and the name and number 933 Susi was reused for the object 1927 CH discovered February 10 , 1927 by Karl Reinmuth .

864 Aase and 1078 Mentha

--- The object A917 CB discovered February 13 , 1917 by Max Wolf was named 864 Aase , and the object 1926 XB discovered December 7 , 1926 by Karl Reinmuth was named 1078 Mentha . In 1958 it was discovered that these were one and the same object. In 1974 , this was resolved by keeping the name 1078 Mentha and reusing the name and number 864 Aase for the object 1921 KE , discovered September 30 , 1921 by Karl Reinmuth .

1095 Tulipa and 1449 Virtanen

--- The object 1928 DC discovered February 24 , 1928 by Karl Reinmuth was named 1095 Tulipa , and the object 1938 DO discovered February 20 , 1938 by Yrjö Väisälä was named 1449 Virtanen . In 1966 it was discovered that these were one and the same object. The name 1449 Virtanen was kept and the name and number 1095 Tulipa was reused for the object 1926 GS discovered April 14 , 1926 by Karl Reinmuth .

1125 China and 3789 Zhongguo

--- The object 1928 UF discovered October 25 , 1928 by Zhang Yuzhe (Y. C. Chang) was named 1125 China , and was later lost. Later, the object was discovered on October 30 , 1957 at Purple Mountain Observatory and was initially incorrectly believed to be the rediscovery of the object 1928 UF. The name and number 1125 China were then reused for the object , and 1928 UF remained lost. In 1986 , the object was discovered and proved to be the real rediscovery of 1928 UF. This object was given the new number and name 3789 Zhongguo . Note ''Zhongguo'' is the Mandarin Chinese word for "China", in Pinyin transliteration.

Asteroid 1317

--- The object 1914 UQ discovered April 20 , 1914 by G. N. Neujmin was named 787 Moskva (and retains that name to this day). The object 1934 FD discovered on March 19 , 1934 by C. Jackson was given the sequence number 1317. In 1938 , G. N. Neujmin found that asteroid 1317 and 787 Moskva were one and the same object. The sequence number 1317 was later reused for the object 1935 RC discovered on September 1 , 1935 by Karl Reinmuth ; that object is now known as 1317 Silvretta .

RECORD-SETTING CLOSE APPROACHES BY ASTEROIDS TO EARTH

Only asteroids that break a previous record are included. Note that Near-earth Object detection technology drastically improved around the turn of the century, so objects being detected today (in 2004 ) would have been missed only a decade earlier. Some of these bodies may be too small to technically qualify as asteroids; by some definitions, an asteroid must be at least 50 meters in diameter.

''See also'': Closest Approaches to the Earth by Minor Planets

EXCEPTIONALLY SLOW-ROTATING OBJECTS

Rotation Period s have been determined for only a small fraction of asteroids (from Light Curve s or from radar studies). Most asteroids have rotation periods of less than 24 hours; however, 288 Glauke has a rotation period of about 50 days.

''See also'': Minor Planet Lightcurve Parameters

SEE ALSO

List Of Solar System Objects By Mass

List Of Numbered Aten Asteroids

List Of Asteroids Named After People

List Of Apollo Asteroids

List Of Amor Asteroids

List Of Centaurs

List Of Scattered-disk Objects

List Of Asteroids With Moons

List Of Mercury-crossing Asteroids

List Of Venus-crossing Asteroids

List Of Earth-crossing Asteroids

List Of Mars-crossing Asteroids

List Of Jupiter-crossing Asteroids

List Of Saturn-crossing Asteroids

List Of Uranus-crossing Asteroids

List Of Neptune-crossing Asteroids

EXTERNAL LINKS

Lists and plots: Minor Planets

PDS Asteroid Data Archive

SBN Small Bodies Data Archive

NASA Near Earth Object Program

Major News About Minor Objects

BOOKS

''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 3540002383

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List Of Noteworthy Asteroids