The organization responsible for collecting and disseminating positional measurements and orbital data for asteroids (minor planets) and comets. It was established by the International Astronomical Union at Cincinnati Observatory in 1947, and moved to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in 1978. The Minor Planet Center allocates preliminary designations to new discoveries and gives permanent numbers when satisfactory orbits have been determined. The information is published through the Minor Planet Circulars. The work of the Minor Planet Center complements that undertaken at the Institute for Theoretical Astronomy in St Petersburg, Russia, which publishes annual volumes of ephemerides of numbered asteroids.

http://www.minorplanetcenter.net Official website, with links to many information pages on minor planets.