DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15229334
title: A Cross-Identification Table for Asteroids

description: ABSTRACT

We present a comprehensive cross-identification table for 1,383,894 asteroids.

The table includes Minor Planet Center (MPC) numeric identifiers, readable and packed designations, JPL-readable names, and SPK-IDs, alongside all alternate and provisional MPC designations. 

To enable bibliographic integration, we generate NASA/ADS query URLs capturing all known identifiers.

This dataset facilitates standardized linking of asteroid records across heterogeneous astronomical archives, surveys, and bibliographic databases, addressing ambiguities in provisional or incompletely recorded identifiers. 

A Python script is provided to query the dataset, for providing identifier resolution.
description: INTRODUCTION

Asteroid nomenclature varies significantly across data sources and observer preferences, complicating automated ephemeris calculations, archive searches, and bibliographic tracking. For example, the asteroid Ceres is recorded as '1' (MPC number), '(1) Ceres' (MPC readable), '1 Ceres (A801 AA)' (JPL readable), and by provisional designations 'A801 AA', 'A899 OF', and '1943 XB'.

With more than 1.3 million known asteroids in 2024, these varying naming systems inhibit data integration and risk object mismatches. No standard naming convention is enforced, and observers often use their preferred notations at the telescope, introducing randomness in astronomical archives that store observational data, such as the ESO Archive.

Querying for an asteroid like Ceres is nearly impossible without knowing all its variant designations. Similar to SIMBAD and NED, which resolve multiple identifiers for stars (e.g., Sirius as '* alf CMa', 'HD 48915'), we provide a cross-identification table unifying MPC and JPL notations and supporting NASA/ADS literature searches.

Purpose and Scope

This cross-identification table bridges Minor Planet Center (MPC) and NASA JPL naming conventions, consolidating all historical designations for 1,383,894 asteroids (as of October 2024). Our goals are:



Disambiguation:  Resolve formatting and syntactic differences between MPC and JPL designations;

Data integration:  Enable standardized joins across heterogeneous astronomical datasets;

Bibliographic enrichment:  Provide ADS query URLs capturing all known identifiers;

Historical traceability:  Retain all MPC-assigned provisional and alternate designations.


Methodology 

We extracted metadata from the MPCORB database (October 2024) and JPL Small-Body Database for all asteroids, including MPC name, number, readable designation, packed code, alternate/provisional designations, JPL readable name, and SPK-ID.

Designations were aggregated in the   mpc_all_designations  field that concatenates all MPC designations (e.g., `"'Ceres','1','A801 AA','A899 OF','1943 XB'"` for Ceres) in a JSON-like string for parsing convenience.

We generate ADS query URLs to match all designations, removing duplicate terms, supplemented by number-based searches (e.g., '1' AND 'asteroid') to maximize bibliographic coverage.

 Scientific Utility 

The dataset is valuable for automated pipelines where input designations may be provisional-formatted or incomplete, ensuring robust data integration and traceability. It supports a range of applications, making it a critical tool for resolving designations like ‘2007 MT27’.

A companion Python script (  asteroid_name_resolver.py , see Section   data ) provides instant designation resolution, enhancing these use cases:



Literature searches:    adsabs_bibliography_link  URLs retrieve all refereed papers mentioning an asteroid, regardless of designation (e.g., linking ‘A801 AA’ to Ceres), benefiting studies of asteroid properties or historical observations.

Archival searches:  Any designation or   mpc_packed  ID can query legacy datasets (e.g., older surveys) by mapping provisional to current identifiers.

Dataset cleaning:  Standardized records normalize IDs from heterogeneous sources (e.g., MPC, JPL) for consistent dataset management.

Survey detection reconciliation:  Unknown labels (e.g., ‘2007 MT27’) are matched to known objects using   mpc_all_designations , ensuring accurate survey integration.

Naming drift detection:    mpc_all_designations  tracks designation changes andrediscoveries.

Ephemeris queries:    jpl_spkid  or   jpl_readable  fields enable direct JPL Horizons queries for precise orbital data.

Dataset integration:  Standardized records facilitate lossless joining of MPC ephemerides, JPL orbital elements, and ADS-linked data for dynamic analyses.

Historical studies:  Alternate designations in   mpc_all_designations  trace an asteroid’s observational history, supporting discovery pattern or naming convention studies.
description: DATA DESCRIPTION

The dataset,   asteroids_crossid_catalog.csv , contains 1,383,894 rows, each representing an asteroid with cross-identification data from the Minor Planet Center (MPC) and NASA JPL Horizons systems ( 550 MB uncompressed,  50 MB compressed).

It includes 8 columns, detailed in the following Table. All fields are non-null except   mpc_name  and   mpc_number , populated for 667,051 asteroids with assigned names and numbers. The remaining 716,843 asteroids lack   mpc_name  and   mpc_number , reflecting provisional or unnumbered status.

A Python script,   asteroid_name_resolver.py , is provided to query the dataset, resolving identifiers. It accepts any designation (e.g., “Ceres”, “A801 AA”, “2007 MT27”) in interactive or batch mode (text file, one designation per line), handling case variations, spaces, diacritics, and non-alphanumeric Unicode characters. Results include standard identifiers (Table   tab:columns , excluding   adsabs_bibliography_link ).

A preprocessed file (  asteroids_crossid_catalog_preprocessed.pkl ,  500 MB) ensures fast loading ( 4-5s). The script requires Python 3.6+, pandas, and unidecode.

Column descriptions for   asteroids_crossid_catalog.csvColumn Name      [Data Type]:      Description  

mpc_name    [String]   MPC-assigned name (e.g., “Ceres”). Null for 716,843 unnamed asteroids. Used for human-readable identification. 

 mpc_number    [Integer]:   MPC-assigned number (e.g., 1 for Ceres). Null for 716,843 unnumbered asteroids. Indicates a permanently numbered object. 

 mpc_readable   [String]:   MPC readable designation (e.g., “(1) Ceres”) or provisional designation for unnumbered asteroids. Non-null. 

 jpl_readable    [String]:   JPL Horizons designation (e.g., “1 Ceres (A801 AA)”), combining number, name, and/or provisional designation. Non-null. 

 jpl_spkid    [Integer]:   JPL SPK-ID (e.g., 20000001 for Ceres), a JPL unique identifier for ephemeris queries. Non-null. 

 mpc_packed    [String]:   MPC packed designation (e.g., “00001” for Ceres) or provisional code. Non-null. 

 mpc_all_designations    [String]:   JSON-like string of all MPC designations (e.g., “‘Ceres’,’1’,’A801 AA’,’A899 OF’,’1943 XB’”) for Python JSON libraries. Non-null. 

adsabs_bibliography_link    [URL]:   NASA/ADS query URL for refereed papers mentioning any designation. Non-null. 

 Notes:        mpc_name  and   mpc_number  may be null, for asteroids without names or numbers.      Strings are UTF-8 encoded; integers are positive whole numbers; URLs are valid HTTPS links to NASA/ADS.      The dataset is machine-readable and importable into SQL databases or pandas DataFrames.      Use   mpc_all_designations  for comprehensive matching and   adsabs_bibliography_link  for bibliographic research.

As example, the first 10 entries without the ADS link are:

mpc name,mpc number,mpc readable,jpl readable,jpl spkid,mpc packed,mpc all designationsCeres,1,(1) Ceres,1 Ceres (A801 AA),20000001,00001,"'Ceres','1','A801 AA','A899 OF','1943 XB'"Pallas,2,(2) Pallas,2 Pallas (A802 FA),20000002,00002,"'Pallas','2','A802 FA'"Juno,3,(3) Juno,3 Juno (A804 RA),20000003,00003,"'Juno','3','A804 RA'"Vesta,4,(4) Vesta,4 Vesta (A807 FA),20000004,00004,"'Vesta','4','A807 FA'"Astraea,5,(5) Astraea,5 Astraea (A845 XA),20000005,00005,"'Astraea','5','A845 XA','1969 SE'"Hebe,6,(6) Hebe,6 Hebe (A847 NA),20000006,00006,"'Hebe','6','A847 NA','1947 JB'"Iris,7,(7) Iris,7 Iris (A847 PA),20000007,00007,"'Iris','7','A847 PA'"Flora,8,(8) Flora,8 Flora (A847 UA),20000008,00008,"'Flora','8','A847 UA'"Metis,9,(9) Metis,9 Metis (A848 HA),20000009,00009,"'Metis','9','A848 HA','1974 QU2'"Hygiea,10,(10) Hygiea,10 Hygiea (A849 GA),20000010,00010,"'Hygiea','10','A849 GA','A900 GA'"