TheJPL Small-Body Database (SBDB) is anastronomydatabase aboutsmall Solar System bodies. It is maintained byJet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) andNASA and provides data for all knownasteroids and severalcomets, includingorbital parameters and diagrams, physical diagrams, close approach details, radar astrometry, discovery circumstances, alternate designations and lists of publications related to the small body.[1] The database is updated daily when new observations are available.[2] In April 2021 the JPL Small-Body Database started using planetaryephemeris (DE441) and small-body perturber SB441-N16. Most objects such as asteroids get atwo-body solution (Sun+object) recomputed twice a year. Comets generally have their two-body orbits computed at a time near the perihelion passage (closest approach to the Sun) as to have the two-body orbit more reasonably accurate for both before and after perihelion. For most asteroids, theepoch used to define an orbit is updated twice a year. Orbital uncertainties in the JPL Small-Body Database are listed at the1-sigma level.
On 27 September 2021 the JPL Solar System Dynamics website underwent a significant upgrade.
233000 orbits were computed in August 2021 and in the 12 months to August 2021, more than 3.3 million orbits were computed.[3]
In the past, one could view a 3D visualization of the body's orbit using aJava applet. As of mid-2023, one could see something similar using JPL's Orbit Viewer tool, which was implemented usingJavaScript,Three.js andWebGL.
The orbit viewer uses unreliabletwo-body methods, and hence should not be used for accurately determining thetime of perihelion passage or planetary encounter circumstances. For accurate ephemerides use theJPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System that handles then-body problem usingnumerical integration.[4]