This is alist of notable minor-planet discoverers credited by theMinor Planet Center with the discovery of one or severalminor planets (such asnear-Earth andmain-belt asteroids,Jupiter trojans anddistant objects). As of 22 October 2025^[update], the discovery ofover 800,000 numbered minor planets are credited to 2,186astronomers,observatories,telescopes orsurveys (see§ Discovering institutions).^[1]

On how a discovery is made, seeobservations of small Solar System bodies.

The table consist of the following fields:

• Astronomers: links to the corresponding article about the discovering astronomer on Wikipedia.
• Discoveries: displays the total number of discovered and co-discovered minor planets made by the discoverer (numbered bodies only). It links to the corresponding "Discovery by..." category, which are subcategories ofCategory:Discoveries by astronomer. These categories do not contain discoveries for which no page on Wikipedia exists. Astronomers with only a few discoveries sometimes do not have their own discovery-category (redlinks). For those who have discovered only one single minor planet, the link in the discovery column directly points to the corresponding entry in thelist of minor planets.
• DOB–DOD: displays the astronomer's date of birth and, if applicable, death.
• Name(s) at MPC: displays the name of the discoverer as used by the MPC, where the abbreviated first name is writtenbefore the family name. Some discoverers have multiple names due to inconsistencies and typos.
• Asteroid(s): minor-planet discoverers are often honored with the naming of (one or several) asteroids by their colleagues. This column gives links to those asteroids.

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Many discoveries are credited to an institution, like an observatory, rather than to one or several individuals.

The table consist of the following fields:

• Institution: links to the corresponding article about the discovering observatory on Wikipedia.
• Discoveries: displays the total number of discovered and co-discovered minor planets made by the observatory (numbered bodies only). It links to the corresponding "Discovery by..." category, which are subcategories ofCategory:Astronomical discoveries by institution. These categories do not contain discoveries for which no page on Wikipedia exists. Observatories with only a few discoveries sometimes do not have their own discovery-category (redlinks). For those who have discovered only one single minor planet, the link in the discovery column directly points to the corresponding entry in thelist of minor planets.
• Observatory code: displays the alphanumericIAU code(s) for the institution.
• Name(s) at MPC: displays the name of the observatory as used by the MPC. Some institutions have multiple names due to inconsistencies and typos.

Only observatories/institutions that are notable and have their own Wikipedia article are included.

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• List of observatory codes, a list of all observatories who have reported data to the Minor Planet Center

• Data Available from the Minor Planet Center, (File: "NumberedMPs.txt", 75 MB as of October 2025)
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets, Minor Planet Center

• Astronomy-related lists
• Discoverers of minor planets
• Lists of space scientists
• Minor-planet discovering observatories

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from October 2025
• Articles containing potentially dated statements from October 2025
• All articles containing potentially dated statements