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PDS: Small Bodies Node

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Small Bodies Cross-Identification Utility

Last cross-ID update: 01 April 2011

Search String

Enter an identification string below corresponding to all or part of an official small body designation and select the match criterion:

Match criterion Exact Match

All characters, blanks and case are significant and must match the entire identification as it appears in the database.

Wildcard Match

Case is not significant; non-alphanumeric characters are ignored. Two wildcard characters are recognized: the underscore ( _ ) matches exactly one arbitrary character; and the percent sign ( % ) matches zero or more arbitrary characters.

Object Types

Select one or more of the following to limit the type of objects returned (selecting none returns all matching objects):

Cross-ID Sources

The cross-IDs incorporated into the database come from the following sources:

Asteroid number and discovery designation correspondences come from Ted Bowell's asteroid cross-ID database, which he maintains privately and graciously makes available with regular updates every 2-3 months.
Asteroid names come from the Minor Planet Center's Minor Planet Names: Alphabetical List page.
Comet names, numbers and discovery designations come from a database of information extracted from IAU Circulars, Minor Planet Electronic Circulars and IAU Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams, maintained by Mike A'Hearn's comet group at the University of Maryland.
Planet, dwarf planet and natural satellite names and permanent designations come from the USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers page.
Discovery designations for natural satellites come from a private database maintained by Mike A'Hearn, culled from information found in the IAU Circulars and Minor Planet Electronic Circulars.
Meteorite names are those from the Gaffey Meteorite Spectra data set, which is included in the PDS/SBN holdings. Note that this source is far from complete for meteorite names. If you are specifically looking for meteorite names, a more complete Meteorite Name Checking Utility is maintained by the Meteoritical Society.

The contributions from all these sources are invaluable and much appreciated.