Meta tags:
description=We are the official body that deals with astrometric observations and orbits of minor planets (asteroids) and comets.;
keywords=astrometry, observations, orbits, minor planets, asteroids, comets, near earth objects, potentially hazardous asteroids;

Headings (most frequently used words):

discovered, minor, the, international, astronomical, union, planet, center, running, tallies, near, earth, objects, planets, comets, observations, close, approaches,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (22), this (10), mpc (9), minor (8), and (7), center (6), for (6), all (6), #observations (6), planet (5), time (4), year (4), month (4), #planets (4), neo (4), neocp (4), million (3), comets (3), discovered (3), object (3), orbits (3), documentation (3), confirmation (3), smithsonian (2), nasa (2), helpdesk (2), about (2), home (2), 477 (2), 219 (2), near (2), earth (2), objects (2), natural (2), satellites (2), orbit (2), observatory (2), international (2), astronomical (2), union (2), iau (2), preparation (2), mode (2), database (2), new (2), data (2), obs (2), plots (2), other (2), submit (2), astrometry (2), submission (2), mpcat (2), observing (2), list (2), ephemerides (2), services (2), followup (2), report (2), publications (2), orbital (2), elements (2), hosted, astrophysics, harvard, funded, close, approaches, 525, 4626, 1494856, 40880, running, tallies, operating, funds, come, from, program, grant, much, computer, equipment, that, uses, was, provided, tamkin, foundation, single, worldwide, location, receipt, distribution, positional, measurements, outer, irregular, major, responsible, identification, designation, computation, these, involves, maintaining, master, files, keeping, track, discoverer, each, announcing, discoveries, rest, world, via, electronic, circulars, extensive, website, operates, astrophysical, under, auspices, division, 2026, further, details, what, means, can, found, here, light, curve, wgsbn, sbn, annex, iawn, user, group, mug, external, status, newsletters, existing, upgrades, developments, deprecated, webpages, summary, latest, 2014, statistics, animations, codes, lists, action, code, artificial, guide, info, sky, coverage, format, identifications, processing, times, customizer, mpchecker, satellite, target, observer, request, archival, comparison, tool, wamo, recovery, recent, reports, form, observation, planning, aid, ratings, archive, overview, software, mpcupdate, mpcorb, cometary, activity, possible, comet, mpecs, ephemeris, service, observers, contact,

Text of the page (random words):
iau minor planet center the international astronomical union minor planet center home about contact helpdesk observers ephemeris service mpecs neo confirmation possible comet confirmation report cometary activity orbits observations database orbital elements mpcorb mpcat mpcupdate orbital elements for software publications overview publications archive neo services confirmation ratings observation planning aid neocp followup report form neocp followup reports neocp recent observations neocp plots neo recovery observations wamo orbits orbit comparison tool request for archival astrometry other observer services observing target list natural satellite ephemerides new object ephemerides mpchecker observing list customizer processing times identifications documentation submission format submit mpcat obs sky coverage documentation mpc submission info astrometry guide artificial satellites submit action code other lists and plots minor planets comets observatory codes animations 2014 18 neo obs statistics summary of latest data deprecated webpages data new developments existing upgrades newsletters status documentation external mpc user group mug iawn sbn annex wgsbn light curve database 2026 01 14 00 00 mpc preparation mode the mpc is in preparation mode further details on what this means can be found here the minor planet center mpc is the single worldwide location for receipt and distribution of positional measurements of minor planets comets and outer irregular natural satellites of the major planets the mpc is responsible for the identification designation and orbit computation for all of these objects this involves maintaining the master files of observations and orbits keeping track of the discoverer of each object and announcing discoveries to the rest of the world via electronic circulars and an extensive website the mpc operates at the smithsonian astrophysical observatory under the auspices of division f of the international astronomical union iau all of the mpc s operating funds come from a nasa near earth object observations program grant much of the computer equipment that the mpc uses was provided by the tamkin foundation running tallies near earth objects discovered this month 219 this year 219 all time 40880 minor planets discovered this month 477 this year 477 all time 1494856 comets discovered this month 1 this year 1 all time 4626 observations this month 3 5 million this year 3 5 million all time 525 3 million close approaches home about helpdesk the minor planet center is hosted by the center for astrophysics harvard smithsonian the minor planet center is funded by nasa