The Minor Planet Center operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), which is part of the Center for Astrophysics (CfA) along with the Harvard College Observatory (HCO).
Under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union, it is the official organization in charge of collecting observational data for minor planets (asteroids) and comets, calculating their orbits and publishing this information via the Minor Planet Circulars. It runs a number of free on-line services for observers to assist them in observing minor planets and comets. The complete catalogue of minor planet orbits (MPCORB, sometimes referred to as the 'Minor Planet Catalogue') may also be freely downloaded.
The Minor Planet Center was set up at the University of Cincinnati in 1947, under the direction of Paul Herget. Upon Herget's retirement in 1978, the MPC was moved to the SAO, under the direction of Brian Marsden. Since 2006, the director of the MPC is Timothy B. Spahr, who oversees a staff of 5.
Famous quotes containing the words minor, planet and/or center:
“Chopin—Two embalmers at work upon a minor poet ... the scent of tuberoses ... Autumn rain.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“Could it not be that just at the moment masculinity has brought us to the brink of nuclear destruction or ecological suicide, women are beginning to rise in response to the Mother’s call to save her planet and create instead the next stage of evolution? Can our revolution mean anything else than the reversion of social and economic control to Her representatives among Womankind, and the resumption of Her worship on the face of the Earth? Do we dare demand less?”
—Jane Alpert (b. 1947)
“It is written in the Book of Usable Minutes
That all things have their center in their dying....”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)