List of noteworthy asteroids Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

The following is a list of noteworthy asteroids in our Solar system. For a more complete list of asteroids in sequential numerical order, see List of 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").

Table of contents

1 Largest known asteroids within Jupiter's orbit 2 Retrograde and high-inclination asteroids 3 Other noteworthy asteroids 4 Asteroids with the same or similar names as moons 5 Numbered asteroids that are also comets 6 Asteroids that were misnamed and renamed 7 Record-setting close approaches by asteroids to Earth 8 Exceptionally slow-rotating objects 9 Related topics 10 External links 11 Books

Largest known asteroids within Jupiter's orbit

Number	Name	Diameter (km)	Mean Distance from Sun (in AU)	Date Discovered	Discoverer
1	Ceres	1003	2.766	January 1 1801	Piazzi, G
2	Pallas	608	2.773	March 28 1802	Olbers, H. W
4	Vesta	538	2.361	March 29 1807	Olbers, H. W
10	Hygiea	450	3.136	April 12 1849	de Gasparis, A
31	Euphrosyne	370	3.148	September 1 1854	Ferguson, J
704	Interamnia	350	3.067	October 2 1910	Cerulli, V
511	Davida	323	3.170	May 30 1903	Dugan, R. S
65	Cybele	309	3.437	March 8 1861	Tempel, E. W
52	Europa	289	3.099	February 4 1858	Goldschmidt, H
624	Hektor	283	5.203	February 10 1907	Kopff, A
451	Patientia	276	3.060	December 4 1899	Charlois, A
15	Eunomia	272	2.644	July 29 1851	de Gasparis, A
16	Psyche	250	2.919	March 17 1851	de Gasparis, A
48	Doris	250	3.109	September 19 1857	Goldschmidt, H
92	Undina	250	3.189	July 7 1867	Peters, C. H. F
324	Bamberga	246	2.682	February 25 1892	Palisa, J
3	Juno	240	2.667	September 1 1804	Harding, K. L
24	Themis	234	3.129	April 5 1853	de Gasparis, A
95	Arethusa	230	3.073	November 23 1867	Luther, R

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 damocloids.

Number	Name	Inclination	Discovery date	Comment
5496	1973 NA	67.999°	July 4, 1973	A Mars-crosser and Near-Earth object.
20461	Dioretsa	160.400°	June 8, 1999	This outer-planet crosser is a damocloid and scattered disk object (SDO); 2000 HE46 may have split off from Dioretsa.
65407	2002 RP120	119.112°	September 4, 2002	This outer-planet crosser is a damocloid and SDO.
	1999 LE31	151.867°	June 12, 1999	A damocloid, SDO, Jupiter- and Saturn-crosser asteroid.
	2000 DG8	129.381°	February 25, 2000	A damocloid and SDO. Crosses all the outer planets except Neptune.
	2000 HE46	158.459°	April 29, 2000	This outer-planet crosser is a damocloid and SDO. May be a fragment of 20461 Dioretsa.
	2001 AU43	72.132°	January 4, 2001	A Mars-crosser and Near-Earth object.
	2002 CE10	145.457°	February 6, 2002	A damocloid, SDO, Jupiter- and Saturn-crosser asteroid.
	2002 VQ94	70.513°	November 11, 2002	A damocloid and SDO. It is an outer-planet crosser and almost a Jupiter outer-grazer.
	2002 XU93	77.904°	December 4, 2002	A damocloid and SDO. It is almost an Uranus outer-grazer.
	2003 EH1	70.790°	March 6, 2003	A Mars-crosser, Near-Earth object and Jupiter inner-grazer.
	2004 HV60	90.835°	April 25, 2004	Later (May 9) reclassified as comet C/2004 HV60 (Spacewatch), with a parabolic orbit.
	2004 LG	70.725°	June 9, 2004	A Mercury- through Mars-crosser and Near-Earth object.
	2004 NN8	165.377°	July 13, 2004	This outer-planet crosser could even be on a path headed out of the Solar System (eccentricity ~0.9875).

Other noteworthy asteroids

Number	Name	Diameter (km)	Year Discovered	Comment
5	Astraea	117	December 8 1845	First asteroid discovered in 38 years after original four
90	Antiope	80 + 80	October 1 1866	Double asteroid with two nearly equal components; its double nature was discovered using adaptive optics
139	Juewa	162	October 10 1874	First asteroid discovered in China, by James Craig Watson. The name was chosen by Chinese officials: 瑞華, or in modern pinyin, ruìhuá
243	Ida	56 × 24 × 21	September 29 1884	Visited by Galileo probe
	Dactyl	1.4	1991	Moon of 243 Ida
253	Mathilde	66 × 48 × 46	November 12 1885	Visited by NEAR Shoemaker
288	Glauke		February 20 1890	Exceptionally slow rotation period of about 1200 hours (2 months)
323	Brucia		December 22 1891	First asteroid discovered by means of astrophotography rather than visual observation
433	Eros	13 × 13 × 33	August 13 1898	Visited by NEAR Shoemaker
624	Hektor	370 × 195	February 10 1907	Largest Jovian Trojan asteroid discovered
944	Hidalgo		October 31 1920	Longest orbital period of any asteroid in the main asteroid belt
951	Gaspra	19 × 12 × 11	July 30 1916	Visited by Galileo probe
1566	Icarus		June 27 1949	Apollo class asteroid; perihelion is closer to the Sun than Mercury
1620	Geographos		September 14 1951	Apollo class asteroid
2060	Chiron	170	October 18 1977	First Centaur to be discovered
2063	Bacchus		April 24 1977
3753	Cruithne	5	October 10 1986	Unusual Earth-associated orbit
4179	Toutatis	4.5 × 2.4 × 1.9	January 4 1989	Closely approached Earth on September 29th, 2004
4769	Castalia	1.8 × 0.8	August 9 1989	First asteroid to be imaged
5261	Eureka		June 20 1990	First Martian Trojan asteroid (L5 point) discovered (not yet officially recognized as such)
29075	1950 DA	1.1	February 23 1950	Will approach Earth very closely in 2880
	1997 XR2		1997	Only asteroid to rank greater than zero on the impact-risk Torino scale (it's ranked 1)
	1998 KY26	0.030	June 2 1998	Approached within 800,000 km of Earth
	2001 QR322		January 2003	First known Neptune Trojan asteroid
	2002 AA29	0.1	January 9 2002	Unusual Earth-associated orbit
	2004 FH	0.030	2004	Discovered before it approached within 43,000 km of Earth on March 18, 2004.
	2004 JG6	0.5-1	May 10 2004	Six-month orbital period is second shortest, second only to Mercury

Asteroids with the same or similar names as moons

Number	Name	Namesake	Moon of
9	Metis	Metis	Jupiter
17	Thetis	Tethys	Saturn
24	Themis	Themis	Saturn (fictitious)
38	Leda	Leda	Jupiter
52	Europa	Europa	Jupiter
53	Kalypso	Calypso	Saturn
55	Pandora	Pandora	Saturn
74	Galatea	Galatea	Neptune
85	Io	Io	Jupiter
106	Dione	Dione	Saturn
113	Amalthea	Amalthea	Jupiter
171	Ophelia	Ophelia	Uranus
204	Kallisto	Callisto	Jupiter
218	Bianca	Bianca	Uranus
239	Adrastea	Adrastea	Jupiter
302	Clarissa	Larissa	Neptune
548	Kressida	Cressida	Uranus
558	Carmen	Carme	Jupiter
577	Rhea	Rhea	Saturn
593	Titania	Titania	Uranus
654	Zelinda	Belinda	Uranus
666	Desdemona	Desdemona	Uranus
900	Rosalinde	Rosalind	Uranus
1036	Ganymed	Ganymede	Jupiter
1162	Larissa	Larissa	Neptune
1285	Julietta	Juliet	Uranus
1809	Prometheus	Prometheus	Saturn
1810	Epimetheus	Epimetheus	Saturn
2758	Cordelia	Cordelia	Uranus
4450	Pan	Pan	Saturn
9313	Protea	Proteus	Neptune

Numbered asteroids that are also comets

Number	Name	Cometary name	Comment
2060	Chiron	95P/Chiron	Discovered in 1977 as the first Centaur asteroid, later found to display cometary behavior (including a coma)
4015	Wilson-Harrington	107P/Wilson-Harrington	In 1992, it was realized that asteroid 1979VA's orbit matched it with the positions of the lost comet Wilson-Harrington (1949 III)
7968	Elst-Pizarro	133P/Elst-Pizarro	Discovered in 1996 as a comet, but orbitally matched to asteroid 1979 OW7

Note there are a quite a few other cases where a non-numbered asteroid with only a systematic designation (such as 2001 OG108) 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. [1]

• 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 1957 UN1 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 1957 UN1, and 1928 UF remained lost. In 1986, the object 1986 QK1 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.

Distance (AU)	Distance Mm	Date of closest approach	Object
0.000043	6	radius of Earth
0.000086	13	2004 March 31	2004 FU162
0.00033	49	2004 March 18	2004 FH
0.00056	84	2003 September 27	2003 SQ222
0.00072	108	1994 December 9	1994 XM1
0.00099	148	1993 May 20	1993 KA2
0.00114	171	1991 January 18	1991 BA
0.00257	386	average distance of the Moon
0.00457	684	1989 March 22	4581 Asclepius
0.00495	741	1937 October 30	69230 Hermes

See also: Closest Approaches to the Earth by Minor Planets

Exceptionally slow-rotating objects

Rotation periods have been determined for only a small fraction of asteroids (from light curves 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.

Name	Rotation period (hours)
288 Glauke	1200.
1220 Crocus	737.
253 Mathilde	417.7
1998 QR52	234.
3691 Bede	226.8
9969 Braille	226.4
(38071) 1999 GU3	216.
(65407) 2002 RP120	200.

See also: Minor Planet Lightcurve Parameters

Related topics

• List of numbered Aten asteroids
• List of Apollo asteroids
• List of Amor asteroids
• List of Centaurs
• List of scattered-disk objects
• List of asteroids with moons
• Wikipedia Project: Astronomical Objects
• 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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