• Processing (Info)

    • Why Can't I Find a Certain Named Object?

    If you are looking for an object by name, you may be having trouble finding it. There are a number of possibilities as to why this may be the case:
    • You misspelled the name
    • You omitted to include the required C/ or P/ for a named comet
    • There is no object with that name
    The first two possibilities may be overcome by, respectively, spelling the name correctly (or using a designation for that object) and including the required comet identifier.

    The last possibility is the most troubling. The MPES contains only those names that have been approved for use by the CSBN and its predecessors. News reports occasionally use unofficial or unapproved names: you cannot use these names to access objects in the MPES.

    Neither can you use any names from various on-line "asteroid naming registries" that spring up from time to time: these names have no official standing and are not used by scientists, regardless of the amount of money you paid to "register the name". For obvious reasons, we decline to list the names of any of these "services".

    Some remarks on any current problem cases we are aware of are given below.

    Current problem cases

    • None that we are aware of...