List of exceptional asteroids

Asteroids are special rocks that orbit the Sun, mostly found between the planets Mars and Jupiter. They come in many sizes, from tiny pieces to very large objects. One famous asteroid is Ceres, which is so big that it is called a dwarf planet.

This list talks about asteroids that are unusual in some way, like being very large or having a strange path around the Sun. Some of these asteroids are close to the planet Jupiter, called Jupiter trojans, and others are between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune, called centaurs. These special asteroids help scientists learn more about how our Solar System formed.

Each asteroid gets a number once scientists know exactly where it will go. Before that, they have a temporary name, like 1950 DA. Studying these rocks helps us understand the space around us and the history of our Solar System.

Physical characteristics

Estimating the sizes of asteroids is tricky because of their shapes, how reflective they are, and how big they appear from far away. Big telescopes helped measure most large asteroids between 2019 and 2021.

There are about 140 big asteroids in the main belt that are larger than 120 kilometers across. The inner part of the asteroid belt has fewer large asteroids. Only a few, like Vesta, Fortuna, Hebe, Iris, and Metis, are found there.

Ceres is the heaviest asteroid, almost half the weight of all the asteroids in the belt together. Vesta is the next heaviest, followed by Pallas and Hygiea. Some asteroids, like Ceres and Vesta, have been studied up close by spacecraft, so their weights are known very well.

Only Vesta gets bright enough to sometimes be seen without a telescope. Under very dark skies, Ceres, Pallas, and Iris might also be seen, but only very rarely.

Some asteroids spin very slowly, taking more than 1,000 hours to turn once. Most asteroids spin much faster, between 2 and 20 hours. Others spin extremely fast, some in less than 100 seconds, though these are usually very small and close to Earth.

Name	Diameter (km) (geometric mean)	Dimensions (km)	Mean distance from Sun (in AU)	Inclination (°)	Date discovered	Discoverer	Class
1 Ceres	939.4±0.2	964.4 × 964.2 × 891.8	2.766	10.6	January 1, 1801	Piazzi, G.	G
4 Vesta	525.4±0.2	572.6 × 557.2 × 446.4 ± 0.2	2.362	7.14	March 29, 1807	Olbers, H. W.	V
2 Pallas	511±4	568×530×450	2.773	34.9	March 28, 1802	Olbers, H. W.	B
10 Hygiea	433±8	450×430×424	3.139	5.1	April 12, 1849	de Gasparis, A.	C
704 Interamnia	332±5	362×348×310	3.062	17.3	October 2, 1910	Cerulli, V.	F
52 Europa	319±4	378×336×255	3.095	7.48	February 4, 1858	Goldschmidt, H.	C
511 Davida	298±4	359×293×253	3.168	15.9	May 30, 1903	Dugan, R. S.	C
87 Sylvia	271±5	363×249×191 or 374×248×194	3.485	10.9	May 16, 1866	Pogson, N. R.	X
15 Eunomia	270±3	357×255×212	2.643	11.75	July 29, 1851	de Gasparis, A.	S
31 Euphrosyne	268±4	294×280×248	3.149	26.3	September 1, 1854	Ferguson, J.	C
65 Cybele	263±3	297 × 291 × 213	3.439	3.56	March 8, 1861	Tempel, E. W.	C
624 Hektor	256±12 (if bilobe)	403 × 201	5.235	18.66	February 10, 1907	Kopff, A.	D
3 Juno	254±2	288×250×225	2.672	12.98	September 1, 1804	Harding, K. L.	S
451 Patientia	254±3		3.059	15.2	December 4, 1899	Charlois, A.
107 Camilla	254±12		3.476	10	November 17, 1868	Pogson, N. R.	C
324 Bamberga	227±3	234×224×225	2.684	11.1	February 25, 1892	Palisa, J.	C
16 Psyche	223±3	279×232×189 ± 10%	2.924	3.1	March 17, 1852	de Gasparis, A.	M
88 Thisbe	218±3	255×232×193	2.769	5.22	June 15, 1866	Peters, C. H. F.	B
48 Doris	215±3	257×211×185	3.108	6.55	September 19, 1857	Goldschmidt, H.	C
19 Fortuna	211±2	225×205×195	2.442	1.57	August 22, 1852	Hind, J. R.	G
121 Hermione	209±5?		3.457	7.6	May 12, 1872	Watson, J. C.	C
24 Themis	208±3	232×220×176	3.136	0.76	April 5, 1853	de Gasparis, A.	C
94 Aurora	205±4 ? (	225×173	3.160	7.97	September 6, 1867	Watson, J. C.	C
29 Amphitrite	204±2	222×209×183	2.554	6.08	March 1, 1854	Marth, A.	S
13 Egeria	202±3	238×199×182	2.576	16.54	November 2, 1850	de Gasparis, A.	G
130 Elektra	199±2	262×205×164	3.127	22.78	February 17, 1873	C. H. F. Peters	C
7 Iris	199±10	268×234×180	2.386	5.52	August 13, 1847	Hind, J. R.	S
6 Hebe	195±3	205x185x170	2.426	14.75	July 1, 1847	Hencke, K. L.	S
375 Ursula	192±4		3.126	15.94	September 18, 1893	Charlois, A.	C
702 Alauda	191±2		3.195	20.59	July 16, 1910	Helffrich, J.	C/B
45 Eugenia	188±2	252×191×138	2.720	6.61	June 27, 1857	Goldschmidt, H.	F
41 Daphne	187±13	235×183×153	2.765	15.77	May 22, 1856	Goldschmidt, H.	C
154 Bertha	186±2		3.195	20.972	November 4, 1875	Henry, P. M.	C
423 Diotima	176±4		3.065	11.23	December 7, 1896	Charlois, A.	C
259 Aletheia	174±1		3.135	10.81	June 28, 1886	Peters, C. H. F.	C/P/X
372 Palma	174±3		3.149	23.83	August 19, 1893	Charlois, A.	B
9 Metis	173±2	222×182×130	2.385	5.58	April 25, 1848	Graham, A.	S
532 Herculina	168±1		2.772	16.31	April 20, 1904	Wolf, M.	S
354 Eleonora	165±3	191×162×144	2.798	18.4	January 17, 1893	Auguste Charlois	S
128 Nemesis	163±5	178×163×147	2.751	6.25	November 25, 1872	Watson, J. C.	C
(4:1 resonance) [sort by 'Mean Distance from Sun' to place in table]			2.06	(defines inner edge of main belt)
(3:1 resonance)			2.50	(separates inner from middle belt)
(5:2 resonance)			2.82	(separates middle from outer belt)
(7:3 resonance)			2.95
(2:1 resonance)			3.27	(defines outermost belt)
(1:1 resonance)			5.20	(Trojan asteroids – defines outer edge of main belt)

Asteroids with nominal mass > 10×10¹⁸ kg
Name	Mass (×10¹⁸ kg)	Precision	Approx. proportion of all asteroids
1 Ceres	938.35	0.001% (938.34–938.36)	39.2%
4 Vesta	259.076	0.0004% (259.075–259.077)	10.8%
2 Pallas	204	1.5% (201–207)	8.5%
10 Hygiea	87	8% (80–94)	3.6%
704 Interamnia	35	14% (30–40)	1.5%
15 Eunomia	30	6% (29–32)	1.3%
3 Juno	27	9% (25–29)	1.1%
511 Davida	27	27% (19–34)	1.1%
52 Europa	24	16% (20–28)	1.0%
16 Psyche	23	13% (20–26)	1.0%
532 Herculina	≈ 23	?	≈ 1%
31 Euphrosyne	17	18% (14–19)	0.7%
65 Cybele	15	12% (13–17)	0.6%
87 Sylvia	14.76	0.4% (14.70–14.82)	0.6%
7 Iris	14	17% (11–16)	0.6%
29 Amphitrite	13	16% (11–15)	0.5%
6 Hebe	12	20% (10–15)	0.5%
88 Thisbe	12	20% (9–14)	0.5%
107 Camilla	11.2	1% (11.1–11.3)	0.5%
324 Bamberga	10	9% (9–11)	0.4%
Total	1781	NA	75%

Asteroid	Magnitude when brightest	Semi- major axis (AU)	Eccentricity of orbit	Diameter (km)	Year of discovery
99942 Apophis	3.4^*	0.922	0.191	0.32	2004
4 Vesta	5.20	2.361	0.089172	529	1807
2 Pallas	6.49	2.773	0.230725	544	1802
1 Ceres	6.65	2.766	0.079905	952	1801
7 Iris	6.73	2.385	0.231422	200	1847
433 Eros	6.8	1.458	0.222725	34 × 11 × 11	1898
(153814) 2001 WN5	6.85	1.711	0.467207	0.93	2001
367943 Duende	7.04	0.910	0.089319	0.04 × 0.02	2012
6 Hebe	7.5	2.425	0.201726	186	1847
3 Juno	7.5	2.668	0.258194	233	1804
18 Melpomene	7.5	2.296	0.218708	141	1852
(152680) 1998 KJ9	7.74	1.448	0.639770	0.5	1998
15 Eunomia	7.9	2.643	0.187181	268	1851
8 Flora	7.9	2.202	0.156207	128	1847
324 Bamberga	8.0	2.682	0.338252	229	1892
1036 Ganymed	8.1	2.6657	0.533710	32	1924
9 Metis	8.1	2.387	0.121441	190	1848
192 Nausikaa	8.2	2.404	0.246216	103	1879
20 Massalia	8.3	2.409	0.142880	145	1852

#	Minor planet designation	Rotation period		Δmag	Quality (U)	Orbit or family	Spectral type	Diameter (km)	Abs. mag (H)
#	Minor planet designation	(seconds)	(hours)	Δmag	Quality (U)	Orbit or family	Spectral type	Diameter (km)	Abs. mag (H)
1.	2014 RC	16	0.004389	0.10	n.a.	NEO	S	0.012	26.80
2.	2015 SV₆	18	0.00490	0.74	2	NEO	S	0.009	27.70
3.	2010 JL88	25	0.0068295	0.52	3	NEO	S	0.013	26.80
4.	2017 EK	30	0.0083	0.30	2	NEO	S	0.045	24.10
5.	2010 WA	31	0.0085799	0.22	3	NEO	S	0.003	30.00
6.	2017 UK8	31	0.0086309	1.30	3	NEO	S	0.007	28.20
7.	2016 GE₁	34	0.009438	0.13	2	NEO	S	0.014	26.60
8.	2008 HJ	43	0.01185	0.80	3−	NEO	S	0.021	25.80
9.	2009 TM₈	43	0.012	–	n.a.	NEO	S	0.006	28.40
10.	2015 SU	46	0.0127	0.20	2−	NEO	S	0.025	25.40
11.	2010 SK₁₃	52	0.0144	–	n.a.	NEO	S	0.01	27.40
12.	2009 BF₂	57	0.01593	0.80	3	NEO	S	0.02	25.90
13.	2016 GS₂	66	0.0182725	0.06	1	NEO	S	0.075	23.00
14.	2010 TG₁₉	70	0.0193935	1.10	3	NEO	S	0.049	23.90
15.	2008 WA₁₄	70	0.0195	–	n.a.	NEO	S	0.075	23.00
16.	2007 KE₄	77	0.021408	0.38	3−	NEO	S	0.027	25.20
17.	2000 DO₈	78	0.0217	1.39	3	NEO	S	0.037	24.54
18.	2014 GQ₁₇	78	0.0217	0.08	2−	NEO	S	0.011	27.10
19.	2014 TV	79	0.02190	0.32	2	NEO	S	0.039	24.40
20.	2000 WH₁₀	80	0.02221	0.66	3−	NEO	S	0.094	22.50
21.	2012 HG₂	82	0.0227	–	n.a.	NEO	S	0.012	27.00
22.	2010 TD54	83	0.0229317	0.92	3	NEO	S	0.005	28.90
23.	2010 TS₁₉	83	0.023	–	n.a.	NEO	S	0.022	25.70
24.	2009 UD	84	0.023246	0.66	2+	NEO	S	0.011	27.20
25.	2014 WB₃₆₆	86	0.0238	0.46	2+	NEO	S	0.033	24.80
26.	2015 RF₃₆	90	0.025	0.15	2	NEO	S	0.062	23.40
27.	2015 AK₄₅	93	0.0258	0.24	2	NEO	S	0.016	26.40
28.	2010 XE₁₁	96	0.0265846	0.50	3	NEO	S	0.075	23.00
29.	2000 UK₁₁	96	0.026599	0.28	2	NEO	S	0.026	25.30
30.	2016 RB₁	96	0.02674	0.18	2+	NEO	S	0.007	28.30
31.	2015 CM	96	0.0268	0.53	3−	NEO	S	0.018	26.10
32.	2008 TC3	97	0.0269409	1.02	3	NEO	F	0.004	30.90

Orbital characteristics

Some asteroids have special paths around the Sun. One special group moves in the opposite direction compared to most planets. As of March 2018, there were only 99 known asteroids that move this way, which is very rare.

There are also asteroids that share their paths with planets. For example, some follow close to Earth, Mars, and Jupiter.

Main article: List of asteroid close approaches to Earth

Minor planet designation	Inclination (°)	First observed/ Discovery date	Condition code	Obs. × arc	Comment
2024 TF₃	89.1°	March 8, 2010		40	Extremely high-inclined trans-Neptunian object.
2017 UX₅₁	90.5°	October 27, 2017	0	79254	—
2018 SQ₁₃	90.9°	September 21, 2018		17407	—
2015 TN₁₇₈	91.0°	October 8, 2015	0	38805	—
2005 SB₂₂₃	91.2°	September 30, 2005	1	12200	Has a well-determined orbit
2014 MH₅₅	91.4°	June 29, 2014	6	96	—
2010 EQ₁₆₉	91.6°	March 8, 2010	?	15	Most highly inclined known main-belt asteroid (orbit is not well-known)
2015 RK₂₄₅	91.6°	September 13, 2015	0	184680	—
2016 TK₂	92.3°	July 13, 2016	2	6075	—
(518151) 2016 FH₁₃	93.5°	March 29, 2016	0	91561	—
2014 PP₆₉	93.6°	August 5, 2014	1	8085	—
2015 BH₃₁₁	94.1°	January 20, 2015	?	39	—
2017 OX₆₈	94.7°	July 26, 2017		8720	—
2014 JJ₅₇	95.9°	May 9, 2014	0	95710	—
2013 HS₁₅₀	97.4°	April 16, 2013		220	—
(709487) 2013 BL76	98.5°	January 20, 2013		46716	Has a semi-major axis of 1254 AU, giving it the third largest semi-major axis of any known minor planet
2010 GW₁₄₇	99.8°	April 14, 2010	0	97888	—
2011 MM₄	100.4°	June 24, 2011	0	364936	—
2017 NM₂	101.2°	July 6, 2017	1	28014	—
2014 XS₃	101.3°	December 8, 2014	0	23544	—
2013 BN₂₇	101.8°	January 17, 2013		1400	—
(528219) 2008 KV42	103.3°	May 31, 2008	1	198550	—
(342842) 2008 YB3	105.0°	December 18, 2008	0	1608789	—
2016 PN₆₆	105.1°	August 14, 2016	0	63879	—
2010 GW₆₄	105.2°	April 6, 2010	0	9072	—
2012 YO₆	106.8°	December 22, 2012	3	6674	—
2009 DD₄₇	107.4°	February 27, 2009	?	1584	—
2017 UR₅₂	108.2°	October 29, 2017		1638	—
2007 VW₂₆₆	108.3°	November 12, 2007	5	2204	—
2011 SP₂₅	109.0°	September 20, 2011	3	3654	—
471325 Taowu	110.1°	May 31, 2011	1	234828	—
2005 TJ₅₀	110.2°	October 5, 2005	5	1488	—
2011 OR₁₇	110.5°	May 21, 2010		71808	—
2005 VX3	112.2°	November 1, 2005		4212	Semi-major axis of 837AU, but has a somewhat short 81-day observation arc for such a large orbit
2017 SV13	113.2°	September 17, 2017	4	2160	—
2016 LS	114.3°	June 27, 2015	0	26688	—
2015 YY₁₈	118.2°	December 29, 2015	0	33454	—
2010 OM₁₀₁	118.7°	July 28, 2010	2	3535	—
(65407) 2002 RP120	118.9°	September 4, 2002	0	648554	This outer-planet crosser is a damocloid and SDO.
2010 PO₅₈	121.1°	August 5, 2010	8	120	—
2010 LG₆₁	123.8°	June 2, 2010	7	935	—
(468861) 2013 LU28	125.3°	June 8, 2013	0	238336	—
2014 SQ₃₃₉	128.5°	September 29, 2014	4	1334	—
2000 DG8	129.2°	February 25, 2000	2	42408	A damocloid and SDO. Crosses all the outer planets except Neptune. Came within 0.03 AU of Ceres in 1930.
2016 CO₂₆₄	129.8°	February 14, 2016	0	23800	—
2013 NS₁₁	130.3°	July 5, 2013	0	143510	—
2005 NP₈₂	130.5°	July 6, 2005	1	662673	—
2006 RG₁	133.4°	September 1, 2006	4	750	Has an orbit with a data arc of 25 days
2012 YE₈	136.0°	December 21, 2012	5	1066	—
2017 AX₁₃	137.2°	January 2, 2017	3	1785	—
2009 QY₆	137.6°	August 17, 2009	1	43990	—
2016 TP₉₃	138.3°	October 9, 2016	?	704	—
2016 YB₁₃	139.6°	December 23, 2016	1	50718	—
2019 EJ₃	139.7°	March 4, 2019	?	576	—
2015 AO₄₄	139.9°	November 27, 2014	0	115821	—
(336756) 2010 NV1	140.7°	July 1, 2010	0	330022	Perihelion at 9.4 AU, only 2008 KV₄₂ has perihelion further out (154-day data arc)
2011 WS₄₁	141.6°	November 24, 2011	?	108	—
2010 OR₁	143.9°	January 25, 2010	1	35032	—
2010 BK118	143.9°	January 30, 2010		374596	Semi-major axis of 408 AU with perihelion at 6.1 AU in April 2012 (1 year data arc)
(523797) 2016 NM₅₆	144.0°	November 1, 2012	0	227052	—
2017 UW₅₁	144.2°	October 23, 2017		68442	—
2010 CG₅₅	146.2°	February 15, 2010	0	129000	—
2012 HD₂	146.8°	April 18, 2012	0	31408	—
2009 YS₆	147.7°	December 17, 2009	0	195734	—
2016 VY₁₇	148.4°	November 5, 2016	0	108624	—
2017 QO₃₃	148.8°	August 16, 2017	1	45360	—
2006 EX₅₂	150.1°	March 5, 2006	0	62310	q=2.58 AU and period=274 yr
(612093) 1999 LE31	151.8°	June 12, 1999	2	905838	A damocloid, Jupiter- and Saturn-crossing minor planet.
2017 SN₃₃	152.0°	September 19, 2017		7590	—
2018 WB₁	152.1°	November 19, 2018	7	351	—
2016 JK₂₄	152.3°	March 3, 2016	0	181965	—
2017 CW₃₂	152.4°	February 2, 2017		51500	—
343158 Marsyas	154.3°	April 29, 2009	0	771834	NEO that sometimes has the highest relative velocity to Earth (79 km/s) of known objects that come within 0.5 AU of Earth. However, the relative velocity at 1 AU from the sun is less than 72 km/s.
2013 LD₁₆	154.7°	June 6, 2013	0	14148	—
2021 TH165	154.9°	October 11, 2021	3	2510	Retrograde trans-Neptunian object close to a 3:–2 mean-motion orbital resonance with Neptune.
2015 FK₃₇	155.8°	March 20, 2015	?	748	—
2010 EB₄₆	156.3°	March 12, 2010	4	2460	—
2015 XR₃₈₄	157.5°	December 9, 2015	2	5580	—
2000 HE₄₆	158.5°	April 29, 2000	2	25960	—
2015 XX₃₅₁	159.0°	December 9, 2015	0	21120	—
2012 TL₁₃₉	160.0°	October 9, 2012	3	900	—
2019 CR	160.3°	February 4, 2019	1	36993	—
20461 Dioretsa	160.4°	June 8, 1999	0	256779	most highly inclined known minor planet from June 8, 1999, to July 13, 2004
2018 DO₄	160.4°	February 25, 2018	0	261726	—
2017 JB₆	160.7°	May 4, 2017	?	6844	—
(523800) 2017 KZ₃₁	161.6°	June 23, 2015	0	119280	—
514107 Kaʻepaokaʻāwela	163.0°	November 26, 2014	0	74898	A Jupiter co-orbital. First known example of a retrograde co-orbital asteroid with any of the planets. Might have an interstellar origin.
2006 RJ2	164.6°	September 14, 2006	5	2849	—
2006 BZ8	165.3°	January 23, 2006	0	207459	—
2004 NN₈	165.5°	July 13, 2004		23944	Came within 0.80 AU of Saturn on 2007-Jun-05, most highly inclined known minor planet from 2004/07/13-2005/11/01
(459870) 2014 AT₂₈	165.5°	November 26, 2013	0	186598	—
2016 DF₂	167.0°	February 28, 2016	?	26	—
(330759) 2008 SO₂₁₈	170.3°	September 30, 2008	0	1058616	—
2014 UV₁₁₄	170.5°	October 26, 2014	?	34	—
2014 CW₁₄	170.7°	February 10, 2014	4	1938	—
2018 TL₆	170.9°	October 5, 2018	7	270	—
2016 EJ₂₀₃	170.9°	March 11, 2016	0	18081	—
2006 LM1	172.1°	June 3, 2006	?	48	Has a data arc of only 2 days, but has a very high inclination
(434620) 2005 VD	172.8°	November 1, 2005	0	228965	most highly inclined known minor planet from November 1, 2005, to June 1, 2013
2015 FR561	174.3°	March 18, 2015	9	165	Has a short data arc of 11 days and is now lost, but has a very high inclination. Thought to be Uranus- and Neptune-crossing.
2013 LA2	175.0°	June 1, 2013	6	1075	Has the highest inclination of any known minor planet

Minor planet designation	Inclination	Discovery date	Comment
1 Ceres	10.593°	January 1, 1801	most highly inclined known minor planet from January 1, 1801, to March 28, 1802
2 Pallas	34.841°	March 28, 1802	most highly inclined known minor planet from March 28, 1802, to October 31, 1920
944 Hidalgo	42.525°	October 31, 1920	most highly inclined known minor planet from October 31, 1920, to May 22, 1950
1373 Cincinnati	38.949°	August 30, 1935	First main-belt asteroid discovered to have an inclination greater than 2 Pallas. Most highly inclined known main-belt asteroid from August 30, 1935, to June 14, 1980
1580 Betulia	52.083°	May 22, 1950	most highly inclined known minor planet from May 22, 1950, to July 4, 1973
2938 Hopi	41.436°	June 14, 1980	Most highly inclined known main-belt asteroid from June 14, 1980, to September 20, 2000
(5496) 1973 NA	67.999°	July 4, 1973	An Apollo asteroid, Mars-crosser and +1 km NEO; most highly inclined known minor planet from 4 July 1973 to 8 August 1999.
(22653) 1998 QW₂	45.794°	August 17, 1998	Most highly inclined known main-belt asteroid from August 17, 1998, to October 19, 1998
(88043) 2000 UE₁₁₀	51.998°	October 29, 2000	First main-belt asteroid discovered and numbered to have an inclination greater than 50°.
(138925) 2001 AU₄₃	72.132°	January 4, 2001	A Mars-crosser and near-Earth object.
(127546) 2002 XU93	77.904°	December 4, 2002	A damocloid and SDO. It is almost a Uranus outer-grazer.
(196256) 2003 EH1	70.790°	March 6, 2003	A Mars-crosser, near-Earth object and Jupiter inner-grazer.
1998 UQ₁	64.281°	October 19, 1998	Most highly inclined known main-belt asteroid from 1998/10/19-2007/11/01
(467372) 2004 LG	70.725°	June 9, 2004	A Mercury- through Mars-crosser and near-Earth object.
2007 VR₆	68.659°	November 1, 2007	Most highly inclined known main-belt asteroid from November 1, 2007, to September 26, 2008
2008 SB₈₅	74.247°	September 26, 2008	Most highly inclined known main-belt asteroid from September 26, 2008, to March 8, 2010

Viewed in detail

Spacecraft targets

Surface resolved by telescope or lightcurve

Multiple systems resolved by telescope

Main article: Minor-planet moon

90 Antiope

Comet-like activity

Main article: Active asteroid

Disintegration

Name	Diameter (km)	Discovered	Spacecraft	Year(s)	Closest approach (km)	Closest approach (asteroid radii)	Landmark(s)
1 Ceres	939.4	January 1, 1801	Dawn	2014–2018	375	0.80	First likely dwarf planet visited by a spacecraft, largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft
4 Vesta	525.4	March 29, 1807	Dawn	2011–2012	210	0.76	First "big four" asteroid visited by a spacecraft, largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft at the time
21 Lutetia	120×100×80	November 15, 1852	Rosetta	2010	3,162	64.9	Largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft at the time
243 Ida	56×24×21	September 29, 1884	Galileo	1993	2,390	152	First asteroid with a moon visited by a spacecraft, largest asteroid visited by spacecraft at the time
253 Mathilde	66×48×46	November 12, 1885	NEAR Shoemaker	1997	1,212	49.5	Largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft at the time
433 Eros	13×13×33	August 13, 1898	NEAR Shoemaker	1998–2001	0	0	First asteroid landing, first asteroid orbited by a spacecraft, first near-Earth asteroid (NEA) visited by a spacecraft
951 Gaspra	18.2×10.5×8.9	July 30, 1916	Galileo	1991	1,600	262	First asteroid visited by a spacecraft
2867 Šteins	4.6	November 4, 1969	Rosetta	2008	800	302	First asteroid visited by the ESA
4179 Toutatis	4.5×~2	February 10, 1934	Chang'e 2	2012	3.2	0.70	Closest asteroid flyby, first asteroid visited by China
5535 Annefrank	4.0	March 23, 1942	Stardust	2002	3,079	1230
9969 Braille	2.2×0.6	May 27, 1992	Deep Space 1	1999	26	12.7
25143 Itokawa	0.5×0.3×0.2	September 26, 1998	Hayabusa	2005	0	0	First asteroid with returned samples, smallest asteroid visited by a spacecraft, first asteroid visited by a non-NASA spacecraft
162173 Ryugu	1.0	May 10, 1999	Hayabusa2	2018–2019	0	0	First rovers on an asteroid
101955 Bennu	0.492	September 11, 1999	OSIRIS-REx	2018–2021	0	0	Smallest asteroid orbited, potentially hazardous object
65803 Didymos	0.492	September 11, 1999	DART/LICIACube	2022	1.2	3.2	Moon Dimorphos impacted by DART spacecraft, flown by LICIACube
152830 Dinkinesh	0.790	October 15, 1999	Lucy	2023	425	1076	Smallest main-belt asteroid visited to date; discovered first contact binary satellite Selam
52246 Donaldjohanson	3.9	March 2, 1981	Lucy	2025	960	240

Timeline

The table above shows special asteroids that are also comets. There are also some minor planets that were thought to be asteroids but turned out to be comets, like C/2001 OG108 (LONEOS), which was temporarily called 2001 OG₁₀₈.

In the past, before there were strict rules for naming asteroids, they were sometimes given numbers and names before their paths around the Sun were fully understood. This led to a few cases where asteroids had to change their names.

Asteroids were first named after female figures from myths. Over time, the rules changed.

The first asteroid named after something that was not from old stories or Latin was 64 Angelina, named for a research station.

The first asteroid with a name that was not a woman's name was either 139 Juewa or 141 Lumen.

The first asteroid named after a man was 433 Eros.

As of 2024, the lowest-numbered asteroid without a permanent name is (4596) 1981 QB.

Name	Diameter (km)	Discovered	Comment
1 Ceres	939	January 1, 1801	First asteroid discovered
5 Astraea	117	December 8, 1845	First asteroid discovered after original four (38 years later)
20 Massalia	136	September 19, 1852	First asteroid named after a city (Marseille)
45 Eugenia	202	June 27, 1857	First asteroid named after living person
87 Sylvia	261	May 16, 1866	First asteroid known to have more than one moon (determined in 2005)
90 Antiope	80×80	October 1, 1866	Double asteroid with two nearly equal components; its double nature was discovered using adaptive optics in 2000
216 Kleopatra	217×94	April 10, 1880	Metallic asteroid with "ham-bone" shape and 2 satellites
243 Ida	56×24×21	September 29, 1884	First asteroid known to have a moon (determined in 1994)
243 Ida I Dactyl	1.4	February 17, 1994	Moon of 243 Ida, first confirmed satellite of an asteroid
279 Thule	127	October 25, 1888	Orbits in the asteroid belt's outermost edge in a 3:4 orbital resonance with Jupiter
288 Glauke	32	February 20, 1890	Exceptionally slow rotation period of about 1200 hours (2 months)
323 Brucia	36	December 22, 1891	First asteroid discovered by means of astrophotography rather than visual observation
433 Eros	13×13×33	August 13, 1898	First near-Earth asteroid discovered and the second largest; first asteroid to be detected by radar; first asteroid orbited and landed upon
482 Petrina	23.3	March 3, 1902	First asteroid named after dog
490 Veritas	115	September 3, 1902	Created in one of the largest asteroid-on-asteroid collisions of the past 100 million years
588 Achilles	135.5	February 22, 1906	First Jupiter trojan discovered
624 Hektor	370×195	February 10, 1907	Largest Jupiter trojan discovered
719 Albert	2.4	October 3, 1911	Last numbered asteroid to be lost then recovered
935 Clivia	6.4	September 7, 1920	First asteroid named after flower
1090 Sumida	13	February 20, 1928	Lowest numbered asteroid with no English Wikipedia entry
1125 China	27	October 30, 1957	First asteroid discovery to be credited to an institution rather than a person
1566 Icarus	1.4	June 27, 1949	First Mercury crosser discovered
2309 Mr. Spock	21.3	August 16, 1971	First asteroid named after cat
3200 Phaethon	5	October 11, 1983	First asteroid discovered from space; source of Geminids meteor shower.
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 29, 2004
4769 Castalia	1.8×0.8	August 9, 1989	First asteroid to be radar-imaged in sufficient detail for 3D modeling
5261 Eureka	~2–4	June 20, 1990	First Mars trojan (Lagrangian point L₅) discovered
11885 Summanus	1.3	September 25, 1990	First automated discovery of a near-Earth object (NEO)
(29075) 1950 DA	1.1	February 23, 1950	Small chance to collide with Earth in 2880 (1 in 2,600 or 0.039%)
69230 Hermes	0.3	October 28, 1937	Named but not numbered until its recovery in 2003 (65 years later)
99942 Apophis	0.3	June 19, 2004	First asteroid to rank greater than one on the Torino Scale (it was ranked at 2, then 4; now down to 0). Previously better known by its provisional designation 2004 MN₄.
152830 Dinkinesh I Selam	0.22	November 1, 2023	First satellite discovered to be a contact-binary
(433953) 1997 XR2	0.23	December 4, 1997	First asteroid to rank greater than zero on the impact-risk Torino Scale (it was ranked 1; now at 0)
1998 KY26	0.030	June 2, 1998	Approached within 800,000 km of Earth
2002 AA29	0.1	January 9, 2002	Unusual Earth-associated orbit
2004 FH	0.030	March 15, 2004	Discovered before it approached within 43,000 km of Earth on March 18, 2004.
2008 TC3	~0.003	October 6, 2008	First Earth-impactor to be spotted before impact (on October 7, 2008)
(706765) 2010 TK7	~0.3	October 2010	First Earth trojan to be discovered
2014 RC	~0.017	September 1, 2014	Asteroid with fastest rotation: 16.2 seconds

Name	Cometary name	Comment
2060 Chiron	95P/Chiron	First centaur discovered in 1977, later identified to exhibit cometary behaviour. Also one of two minor planets (excluding dwarf planets) known to have a ring system
4015 Wilson–Harrington	107P/Wilson–Harrington	In 1992, it was realized that asteroid 1979 VA'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
60558 Echeclus	174P/Echeclus	Centaur discovered in 2000, comet designation assigned in 2006
118401 LINEAR	176P/LINEAR (LINEAR 52)	Main-belt comet–asteroid discovered to have a coma on November 26, 2005

Minor planet name	Description
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 and 1171 Rusthawelia	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 and 787 Moskva	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.

Landmark numbers

Some special numbers were chosen for naming asteroids, and there was discussion about whether Pluto should have been number 10000. This list includes a few objects that are not asteroids.