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Asteroids at Lagrangian point L 4 are named after Greek characters (such as 588 Achilles), whilst asteroids at L 5 are named after Trojans (such as 884 Priamus). Small Jupiter trojans with absolute magnitudes fainter than 12 (in the V band) can be named for Olympic athletes. [22] [28]
By 1851, the Royal Astronomical Society decided that asteroids were being discovered at such a rapid rate that a different system was needed to categorize or name asteroids. In 1852, when de Gasparis discovered the twentieth asteroid, Benjamin Valz gave it a name and a number designating its rank among asteroid discoveries, 20 Massalia .
Common names should be used for article titles, provided they are unambiguous. When more than one name is in common usage, preference should be given to the name used in the more reliable sources . For astronomical objects, papers in scientific journals or publications of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) are regarded as more reliable ...
These are lists of asteroids, e.g. by discoverer or by number. See list of minor planets for an overview and numbering and naming conventions.
Several of these groups are hypothetical at this point in time, with no members having yet been discovered; as such, the names they have been given are provisional. Vulcanoid asteroids are hypothetical asteroids that orbit entirely within the orbit of Mercury (have an aphelion of less than 0.3874 AU). A few searches for vulcanoids have been ...
The largest asteroids with an accurately measured mass, because they have been studied by the probe Dawn, are 1 Ceres with a mass of (939.3 ± 0.5) × 10 18 kg, and 4 Vesta at (259.076 ± 0.001) × 10 18 kg.
A recently discovered asteroid, named 2024 YR4, has on average a 2% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. While those odds of an impact are slim, astronomers are closely tracking the space rock to ...
Carbonaceous asteroids, as their name suggests, are carbon-rich. They dominate the asteroid belt's outer regions, [73] and are rare in the inner belt. [72] Together they comprise over 75% of the visible asteroids. They are redder in hue than the other asteroids and have a low albedo.