View source for Astronomy:List of named minor planets (alphabetical)

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{{hatnote|Also see the special list of minor planets named for [[Astronomy:List of minor planets named after people|people]], [[Astronomy:List of minor planets named after places|places]] and [[Astronomy:List of minor planets named after rivers|rivers]], as well as animals and plants}}

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  | group 1      = 1625 : 1501 : 1318 : 1106 : 680 : 592 : 957 : 1110 : 427 : 960 : 1466 : 1081 : 1880 : 696 : 472 : 1152 : 53 : 1046 : 2192 : 1172 : 184 : 641 : 532 : 48 : 363 : 288
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|caption = Minor planets grouped by the first letter of their name. Names rarely begin with "Q" or "X", but often with "S".{{efn|name=Grouping-by-first-letter}}}}

This is a list of named [[Astronomy:Minor planet|minor planet]]s in an alphabetical, case-insensitive order grouped by the first letter of their name.{{efn|name=Grouping-by-first-letter}}{{efn|name=Grey-redirect-links}} New namings, typically proposed by the discoverer and approved by the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) of the [[Organization:International Astronomical Union|International Astronomical Union]], are published nowadays in their ''WGSBN Bulletin'' and summarized in a dedicated list several times a year.<ref name="WGSBN-Bulletin-Archive" />

Over the last four decades, the list has grown significantly with an average rate of 492 new namings published every year (or 1.35 namings per day). While in March 1979,<ref name="Pilcher-1979" /> only 1924 minor planets had received a name and completed the [[Astronomy:List of minor planets#Designation|designation process]], {{As of|2023|11|21|lc=y}}, the list contains 24,514 named objects.<ref name="WGSBN-Bulletin-Archive" /> This, however, only accounts for {{percent|24514|629008|2| pad=yes}} of all numbered bodies, as there are over [[Astronomy:List of minor planets#Main index|629,000 minor planets]] with a well established orbit which is a precondition for receiving a name. Of all these minor-planet names, 1311 contain diacritical marks.<ref name="MPC-Alphabetical-List" />


== See also ==
* List of minor planet discoverers
* [[Astronomy:List of minor planets named after people|List of minor planets named after people]]
* [[Astronomy:List of minor planets named after places|List of minor planets named after places]]
* [[Astronomy:List of minor planets named after rivers|List of minor planets named after rivers]]
* List of observatory codes
* {{section link|Meanings of minor planet names|Index}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=Grouping-by-first-letter|1=For a minor-planet name starting with a character that is not convertible into a Latin one, the second character of its name is used instead. Examples include [[Astronomy:469705 ǂKá̦gára|469705 ǂKá̦gára]] (added to names starting with "K") and [[Astronomy:374710 ʻOʻo|374710 ʻOʻo]] (to be found in the partial list for letter "O").}}

{{efn|name=Grey-redirect-links|1=The following partial lists of named minor planets highlight objects for which no article exists on Wikipedia. Links for such objects redirect to the [[Astronomy:List of minor planets|list of minor planets]] and are displayed in grey rather than blue color. Designations are always given without parentheses ''(see [[Astronomy:Minor planet designation#Syntax|permanent syntax]])''.}}

}} <!-- end of notelist -->

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="MPC-Alphabetical-List">{{cite web
  |title      = Minor Planet Names: Alphabetical List
  |work       = Minor Planet Center
  |date       = 16 October 2023
  |url        = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/MPNames.html
  |access-date= 21 November 2023}}</ref>

<ref name="WGSBN-Bulletin-Archive">{{cite web
  |title      = WGSBN Bulletin Archive
  |work       = Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature
  |date       = 21 November 2023
  |url        = https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/files/Bulletins/index.html
  |access-date= 21 November 2023}}</ref>

<ref name="Pilcher-1979">{{Cite journal
  |author     = Pilcher, Frederick
  |date       = December 1979
  |title      = An Updated Alphabetical List of Names of Minor Planets
  |url        = http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1979MPBu....7...11P&amp;data_type=PDF_HIGH
  |journal    = The Minor Planet Bulletin
  |volume     = 7
  |pages      = 11–15
  |bibcode    = 1979MPBu....7...11P
  |access-date= 26 June 2018}}</ref>

}} <!-- end of reflist -->

[[Category:Lists of small Solar System bodies|Minor planets by name]]

{{Sourceattribution|List of named minor planets (alphabetical)}}