This is a list of notable minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and distant objects). As of 22 October 2025, the discovery of over 800,000 numbered minor planets are credited to 2,186 astronomers, observatories, telescopes or surveys.
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In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: List of minor planet discoverers
- List of minor planet discoverers in the context of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
- List of minor planet discoverers in the context of List of named minor planets (alphabetical)
- List of minor planet discoverers in the context of List of unnumbered trans-Neptunian objects
List of minor planet discoverers in the context of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and MIDEX-6) was a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in the Explorers Program launched in December 2009. WISE discovered thousands of minor planets and numerous star clusters. Its observations also supported the discovery of the first Y-type brown dwarf and Earth trojan asteroid.WISE performed an all-sky astronomical survey with images in 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 μm wavelength range bands, over ten months using a 40 cm (16 in) diameter infrared telescope in Earth orbit.
After its solid hydrogen coolant depleted, it was placed in hibernation mode in February 2011.In 2013, NASA reactivated the WISE telescope to search for near-Earth objects (NEO), such as comets and asteroids, that could collide with Earth.
List of minor planet discoverers in the context of List of named minor planets (alphabetical)
This is a list of named minor planets in an alphabetical, case-insensitive order grouped by the first letter of their name. New namings, typically proposed by the discoverer and approved by the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) of the International Astronomical Union, are published nowadays in their WGSBN Bulletin and summarized in a dedicated list several times a year.
Over the last four decades, the list has grown significantly with an average rate of 492 new namings published every year (or 1.35 namings per day). While in March 1979, only 1924 minor planets had received a name and completed the designation process, as of 15 July 2024, the list contains 24,836 named objects. This, however, only accounts for 3.45% of all numbered bodies, as there are over 720,000 minor planets with a well established orbit which is a precondition for receiving a name. Of all these minor-planet names, 1311 contain diacritical marks.
List of minor planet discoverers in the context of List of unnumbered trans-Neptunian objects
This is a list of unnumbered trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) first observed since 1993 and grouped by the year of principal provisional designation. The data is sourced from the Minor Planet Center's (MPC) List of Trans Neptunian Objects, List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects, List Of Other Unusual Objects, and Database Search. These objects will eventually be numbered as secured discoveries with an official discoverer determined by the MPC. Until then, additional observations are needed to sufficiently decrease an object's orbital uncertainty. As of November 2025, there are 4,518 unnumbered objects, defined here as minor planets with a semi-major axis larger than 30.1 AU (Neptune's average orbital distance from the Sun).
The list also contains information from "Johnston's Archive", such as an object's diameter, its dynamical class and binary status with the satellite's diameter, as well as its albedo, spectral taxonomy and B–R color index. Members of the extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ESDOs, EDDOs and sednoids) – with a semi-major axis greater than 150 AU and perihelion greater than 30 AU – are also identified.