The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the central organization responsible for the detection, designation, and orbit computation of minor planets, comets, and natural satellites in the Solar System. As an international organization operating under the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the MPC collects and disseminates observational data for these objects, maintaining master files of orbits and discoveries. Hosted by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, the MPC is funded by a NASA grant and publishes information through various journals and electronic circulars. The MPC's work is crucial for tracking near-Earth objects (NEOs) and providing data to both professional and amateur astronomers.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
The first Rubin First Look data were submitted to the IAU Minor Planet Center and became the first public data from Rubin First Look.
The Minor Planet Center’s verification of Rubin Observatory’s discovery set gives the global community access to the data for orbit refinement and immediate analysis.
The Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union confirmed Rubin Observatory’s preliminary asteroid discoveries.
Matthew Holman is a senior astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and a former director of the Minor Planet Center.
Rubin Observatory’s submission to the Minor Planet Center included about one million observations collected over one and a half months.
The astrometric measurements of comet 3I/ATLAS from ExoMars TGO are the first accepted into the Minor Planet Center database from a spacecraft orbiting another planet.