Minor-planet designation

There are three internationally standardized designations for minor planets, which are assigned by the Minor Planet Center (MPC). In order of assignment, these are:

1. an initial provisional designation, for all announced discoveries, that reflects the date of discovery;

2. a permanent designation: a catalog number assigned sequentially once the object has a securely determined orbit;

and, for a little under 2% of objects,

3. a proper name.

For clarity and cross-referencing, it is usual for astronomical sources to identify a numbered object by both its permanent and provisional designations, or by its permanent designation (number) and name, at least in tables and for first mentions in a text. Such concatenations are not in themselves official names and do not have a fixed order or punctuation.

Comets are also managed by the MPC, as are interstellar interlopers passing through the Solar System, but for them different cataloguing systems are used.