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Euler diagram showing the IAU Executive Committee conception of the types of bodies in the Solar System. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined in August 2006 that, in the Solar System, [1] a planet is a celestial body that: is in orbit around the Sun, has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape), and
As minor planet discoveries are confirmed, they are given a permanent number by the IAU's Minor Planet Center (MPC), and the discoverers can then submit names for them, following the IAU's naming conventions. The list below concerns those minor planets in the specified number-range that have received names, and explains the meanings of those names.
To found an authority on planetary nomenclature, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) was organized in 1919 to designate and standardize names for features on Solar System bodies. [ 2 ] The heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio , on Pluto, is named after the planet's discoverer Clyde Tombaugh .
As minor planet discoveries are confirmed, they are given a permanent number by the IAU's Minor Planet Center (MPC), and the discoverers can then submit names for them, following the IAU's naming conventions. The list below concerns those minor planets in the specified number-range that have received names, and explains the meanings of those names.
The IAU's names for exoplanets – and on most occasions their host stars – are chosen by the Executive Committee Working Group (ECWG) on Public Naming of Planets and Planetary Satellites, a group working parallel with the Working Group on Star Names (WGSN). [1] Proper names of stars chosen by the ECWG are explicitly recognised by the WGSN. [1]
This is a list of observatory codes (IAU codes or MPC codes) published by the Minor Planet Center. [1] For a detailed description, see observations of small Solar System bodies . List
The IAU is also responsible for the system of astronomical telegrams which are produced and distributed on its behalf by the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. The Minor Planet Center also operates under the IAU, and is a "clearinghouse" for all non-planetary or non-moon bodies in the Solar System. [9]
In 2010, Gonzalo Tancredi presented a report to the IAU evaluating a list of 46 trans-Neptunian candidates for dwarf planet status based on light-curve-amplitude analysis and a calculation that the object was more than 450 kilometres (280 mi) in diameter. Some diameters were measured, some were best-fit estimates, and others used an assumed ...