These plots show the historical growth in known populations of some solar system objects (note that the scale is logarithmic):

• all MP = all minor planets (asteroids plus trans-Neptunian objects, Centaurs, etc.)
• num MP = permanently numbered minor planets
• NEA = near-Earth asteroids (both those with permanent and those with temporary designations)
• planet sat = planetary satellites (both those with permanent and those with temporary designations)
• all TNO/Cen = outer solar system bodies (trans-Neptunian objects, Centaurs, and scattered disk objects)
• num TNO/Cen = outer solar system bodies with permanent numbers
• MP sat = minor planet satellites (satellites of asteroids, TNOs, etc.)
• all comet = all catalogued comets
• num comet = periodic comets with permanent numbers
• ISO = interstellar objects

More details on the current totals are given at Known populations of solar system objects.

Figures below summarize data shown in the above plots. As possible, data corresponds to figures for the beginning of the year. Some figures are approximate. Sources:

• minor planets (includes asteroids and TNOs/centaurs): MPC archive statistics (1996-present); MPCs (1979-1995); Astronomische Nachrichten (1910-1942); Curtis Peebles, 2000, Asteroids: A History, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
• near-Earth asteroids: Alan Chamberlin, Near-Earth asteroid discovery statistics, NASA.
• planetary satellites: see List of IAU preliminary designations of natural satellites and Properties of the planetary satellites of the solar system.
• minor planet satellites: see Asteroids with satellites.
• comets: database based on MPC reports, editions of Catalogue of Cometary Orbits, and G. W. Kronk, Cometography: A Catalog of Comets, Cambridge Univ. Press.
• interstellar objects: MPC reports.

year	all minor planets	numbered minor planets	named minor planets	numbered comets	all comets	planetary satellites	near-Earth asteroids	all trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs	numbered trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs	minor planet satellites	interstellar objects
1600	0	0	0	0	76	1	0	0	0	0	0
1650	0	0	0	0	81	5	0	0	0	0	0
1700	0	0	0	0	98	10	0	0	0	0	0
1750	0	0	0	1	116	10	0	0	0	0	0
1800	0	0	0	1	189	14	0	0	0	0	0
1810	4	4	4	1	198	14	0	0	0	0	0
1820	4	4	4	4	214	14	0	0	0	0	0
1830	4	4	4	5	230	14	0	0	0	0	0
1840	4	4	4	5	237	14	0	0	0	0	0
1850	10	10	10	10	269	16	0	0	0	0	0
1860	57	57	(57)	15	299	18	0	0	0	0	0
1870	109	109	(105)	17	327	18	0	0	0	0	0
1880	211	211	(210)	18	353	20	0	0	0	0	0
1890	287	287	(280)	25	412	20	0	0	0	0	0
1900	451	451	(440)	30	454	22	1	0	0	0	0
1910	719	674	(660)	35	475	25	1	0	0	0	0
1920	959	914	(890)	39		26	3	0	0	0	0
1930	1,269	1,091	(970)	49	539	26	5	0	0	0	0
1940	1,916	1,453	1,400			28	9	1	0	0	0
1950	2,115	(1,580)	(1,430)	68	624	30	13	1	0	0	0
1960	2,327	(1,630)	(1,500)	75	672	31	20	1	0	0	0
1970	4,461	(1,700)	1,565	82	719	31	27	1	0	0	0
1980	9,251	2,188	1,967	102	800	33	51	2	1	0	0
1981	9,951	2,321	2,119	105	810	44	54	2	1	0	0
1982	11,078	2,525	2,205	107	819	45	61	2	1	0	0
1983	11,463	(2,800)	2,354	108	821	45	71	2	1	0	0
1984	11,707	2,987	2,570	113	835	45	78	2	1	0	0
1985	11,987	3,166	2,697	118	851	45	82	2	1	0	0
1986	12,344	3,357	2,785	121	857	45	87	2	1	0	0
1987	12,750	3,533	2,925	129	870	55	96	2	1	0	0
1988	13,149	3,720	3,043	132	888	55	107	2	1	0	0
1989	13,941	3,956	3,248	134	903	55	116	2	1	0	0
1990	14,825	4,295	3,374	140	923	60	134	2	1	0	0
1991	16,057	4,679	3,600	146	934	61	159	2	1	0	0
1992	17,548	5,012	3,958	154	953	61	199	2	1	0	0
1993	18,999	5,408	4,165	157	965	61	229	4	2	0	0
1994	21,415	5,791	4,566	160	998	61	269	10	2	0	0
1995	23,626	6,202	4,756	163	1,010	61	316	22	2	2	0
1996	29,039	6,752	4,974	164	1,015	61	349	41	2	2	0
1997	32,526	7,367	5,406	165	1,069	61	394	58	3	2	0
1998	36,426	8,125	5,802	166	1,175	63	447	76	3	5	0
1999	46,445	9,826	6,145	170	1,287	63	651	123	4	7	0
2000	58,282	12,971	7,085	175	1,418	67	879	270	6	9	0
2001	108,066	19,910	7,956	182	1,544	81	1,242	442	22	13	0
2002	158,311	32,729	8,982	195	1,695	91	1,684	606	35	23	0
2003	208,572	52,224	10,038	205	1,879	104	2,172	794	54	33	0
2004	232,470	73,636	11,008	211	2,079	136	2,610	989	82	47	0
2005	264,447	96,154	12,065	220	2,305	141	3,148	1,159	115	59	0
2006	305,224	120,437	12,779	223	2,532	159	3,777	1,273	139	89	0
2007	362,447	145,705	13,479	224	2,737	168	4,414	1,373	184	110	0
2008	395,305	173,116	14,226	226	2,969	172	5,064	1,447	200	153	0
2009	436,598	202,885	14,920	228	3,203	172	5,867	1,477	223	176	0
2010	473,217	228,203	15,524	233	3,437	174	6,647	1,532	226	195	0
2011	540,573	257,455	16,216	248	3,726	177	7,568	1,763	230	204	0
2012	573,294	310,376	16,863	256	3,991	180	8,455	1,958	252	220	0
2013	600,853	350,441	17,620	276	4,283	183	9,447	2,065	265	233	0
2014	627,950	382,394	18,162	294	5,021	184	10,478	2,403	270	257	0
2015	664,036	415,688	18,977	306	(5,300)	184	11,945	2,718	295	270	0
2016	701,660	455,144	19,712	310	(5,600)	184	13,505	3,426	322	301	0
2017	723,367	480,806	20,364	347	(5,800)	186	15,390	3,494	400	319	0
2018	746,412	508,765	21,191	362	(6,100)	188	17,442	3,516	468	347	1
2019	789,069	523,824	21,787	375	(6,500)	198	19,325	3,528	621	370	1
2020	853,561	542,163	22,023	393	6,746	218	21,781	3,542	773	406	2
2021	1,026,572	546,846	22,151	409	(7,000)	218	24,744	3,759	788	444	2
2022	1,143,124	607,011	22,977	436	(7,300)	220	27,841	4,377	915	476	2
2023	1,251,562	619,999	23,626	452	(7,700)	222	31,040	4,451	1,039	503	2
2024	(1,320,000)	640,000	24,558	472	(8,000)	298	34,220		1,053	526	2
2025	1,424,220	756,999	25,402	497	(8,300)	301	37,343		1,156	574	2
2026	1,489,473	875,150	26,202	513	(8,500)	432	40,579		1,201	619	3
Jul 2026	1,557,477	895,910	26,541	516		468	41,956	6,326	1,215	643	3
year	all minor planets	numbered minor planets	named minor planets	numbered comets	all comets	planetary satellites	near-Earth asteroids	all trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs	numbered trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs	minor planet satellites	interstellar objects

© 2007-2023, 2026 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 5 July 2026.
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