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A distant minor planet, or distant object, is any minor planet found beyond Jupiter in the outer Solar System that is not commonly thought of as an " asteroid". The umbrella term is used by IAU's Minor Planet Center (MPC), [1] which is responsible for the identification, designation and orbit computation of these objects. [2] As of July 2020 [update], the MPC maintains 3929 distant objects in its data base. [3]
Most distant minor planets are trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs, while relatively few are damocloids, Neptune trojans or Uranus trojans. All distant objects have a semi-major axis (average distance from the Sun) greater than 6 AU. [3] This threshold, which is just beyond the orbit of Jupiter (5.2 AU), ensures that the vast majority of "true asteroids" – such as the near-Earth, Mars-crosser, main-belt and Jupiter trojan populations – are excluded from the distant minor planets. [3]
See also
References
- ^ "Observable Distant Minor Planets". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ "Main page". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ a b c "Objects with orbit type; Distant object". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
External links
- Data base query form, Minor Planet Center
- Orbital Plot – locations and orbits of distant objects, Minor Planet Center
