These plots show the historical growth in known populations of some solar system objects (note that the scale is logarithmic):

• all MP = all minor planets (asteroids plus trans-Neptunian objects, Centaurs, etc.)
• num MP = permanently numbered minor planets
• NEA = near-Earth asteroids (both those with permanent and those with temporary designations)
• planet sat = planetary satellites (both those with permanent and those with temporary designations)
• all TNO/Cen = outer solar system bodies (trans-Neptunian objects, Centaurs, and scattered disk objects)
• num TNO/Cen = outer solar system bodies with permanent numbers
• MP sat = minor planet satellites (satellites of asteroids, TNOs, etc.)
• all comet = all catalogued comets
• num comet = periodic comets with permanent numbers
• ISO = interstellar objects

More details on the current totals are given at Known populations of solar system objects.

Figures below summarize data shown in the above plots. As possible, data corresponds to figures for the beginning of the year. Some data are approximate. Sources:

• minor planets (includes asteroids and TNOs/centaurs): MPC archive statistics (1996-present); MPCs (1979-1995); Astronomische Nachrichten (1910-1942); Curtis Peebles, 2000, Asteroids: A History, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC (1900).
• near-Earth asteroids: Alan Chamberlin, Near-Earth asteroid discovery statistics, NASA.
• planetary satellites: see Properties of the planetary satellites of the solar system.
• minor planet satellites: see Asteroids with satellites.
• comets: database based on MPC reports, editions of Catalogue of Cometary Orbits, and G. W. Kronk, Cometography: A Catalog of Comets, Cambridge Univ. Press.
• interstellar objects: MPC reports.

year	all minor planets	numbered minor planets	numbered comets	all comets	planetary satellites	near-Earth asteroids	all trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs	numbered trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs	minor planet satellites	interstellar objects
1800	0	0	1	189	14	0	0	0	0	0
1810	4	4	1	198	14	0	0	0	0	0
1820	4	4	4	214	14	0	0	0	0	0
1830	4	4	5	230	14	0	0	0	0	0
1840	4	4	5	237	14	0	0	0	0	0
1850	10	10	10	269	16	0	0	0	0	0
1860	57	57	15	299	18	0	0	0	0	0
1870	109	109	17	327	18	0	0	0	0	0
1880	211	211	18	353	20	0	0	0	0	0
1890	287	287	25	412	20	0	0	0	0	0
1900	451	451	30	454	22	1	0	0	0	0
1910	719	674	35	475	25	1	0	0	0	0
1920	959	914	39		26	3	0	0	0	0
1930	1,269	1,091	49	539	26	5	0	0	0	0
1940	1,916	1,453			28	9	1	0	0	0
1950	2,115	(1,580)	68	624	30	13	1	0	0	0
1960	2,327	(1,630)	75	672	31	20	1	0	0	0
1970	4,461	(1,700)	82	719	32	27	1	0	0	0
1980	9,251	2,188	102	800	39	51	2	1	0	0
1981	9,951	2,321	105	810	45	54	2	1	0	0
1982	11,078	2,525	107	819	45	61	2	1	0	0
1983	11,463	(2,800)	108	821	45	71	2	1	0	0
1984	11,707	2,987	113	835	45	78	2	1	0	0
1985	11,987	3,166	118	851	45	82	2	1	0	0
1986	12,344	3,357	121	857	46	87	2	1	0	0
1987	12,750	3,533	129	870	56	96	2	1	0	0
1988	13,149	3,720	132	888	56	107	2	1	0	0
1989	13,941	3,956	134	903	56	116	2	1	0	0
1990	14,825	4,295	140	923	62	134	2	1	0	0
1991	16,057	4,679	146	934	63	159	2	1	0	0
1992	17,548	5,012	154	953	63	199	2	1	0	0
1993	18,999	5,408	157	965	63	229	4	2	0	0
1994	21,415	5,791	160	998	63	269	10	2	0	0
1995	23,626	6,202	163	1,010	63	316	22	2	2	0
1996	29,039	6,752	164	1,015	63	349	41	2	2	0
1997	32,526	7,367	165	1,069	63	394	58	3	2	0
1998	36,426	8,125	166	1,175	65	447	76	3	5	0
1999	46,445	9,826	170	1,287	65	651	123	4	7	0
2000	58,282	12,971	175	1,418	69	879	270	6	9	0
2001	108,066	19,910	182	1,544	91	1,242	442	22	13	0
2002	158,311	32,729	195	1,695	105	1,684	606	35	23	0
2003	208,572	52,224	205	1,879	110	2,172	794	54	33	0
2004	232,470	73,636	211	2,079	138	2,610	989	82	47	0
2005	264,447	96,154	220	2,305	154	3,148	1,159	115	59	0
2006	305,224	120,437	223	2,532	157	3,777	1,273	139	84	0
2007	362,447	145,705	224	2,737	165	4,414	1,373	184	104	0
2008	395,305	173,116	226	2,969	169	5,064	1,447	200	147	0
2009	436,598	202,885	228	3,203	170	5,867	1,477	223	170	0
2010	473,217	228,203	233	3,437	171	6,647	1,532	226	189	0
2011	540,573	257,455	248	3,726	173	7,568	1,763	230	198	0
2012	573,294	310,376	256	3,991	176	8,455	1,958	252	213	0
2013	600,853	350,441	276	4,283	178	9,447	2,065	265	224	0
2014	627,950	382,394	294	5,021	179	10,478	2,403	270	249	0
2015	664,036	415,688	306	5,200	179	11,945	2,718	295	262	0
2016	701,660	455,144			179	13,505	3,426	322	293	0
2017	723,367	480,806			181	15,390	3,494	400	309	0
2018	746,412	508,765	362		182	17,442	3,516	468	337	1
2019	789,069	523,824	375		194	19,325	3,528	621	360	1
2020	853,561	542,163	393	6,619	214	21,769	3,542	772	393	2
2021		546,846				24,723				2
2022		607,011			218	27,812				2
Aug 2022	1,218,320	616,690	434	7,476	220	29,246	4,451	1,037	480	2
year	all minor planets	numbered minor planets	numbered comets	all comets	planetary satellites	near-Earth asteroids	all trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs	numbered trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs	minor planet satellites	interstellar objects

© 2007-2019, 2022 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 25 July 2022.
Return to Home. Return to Astronomy and Space.