List of trans-Neptunian objects

For unnumbered bodies, see List of unnumbered trans-Neptunian objects.

Albedo size and color
Compilation of 15 imaged trans-Neptunian objects. The first image compares some of the largest TNOs in terms of size, color and albedo.

This is a list of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), which are minor planets in the Solar System that orbit the Sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune, that is, their orbit has a semi-major axis greater than 30.1 astronomical units (AU). The Kuiper belt, scattered disk, and Oort cloud are three conventional divisions of this volume of space.[1][nb 1] As of April 2022, the catalog of minor planets contains 901 numbered TNOs. In addition, there are more than 3,000 unnumbered TNOs, which have been observed since 1993.[3][4][5]

This list consists of all types of TNO subgroups: classical Kuiper belt objects, also known as "cubewanos", the resonant trans-Neptunian objects with their main and higher-order resonant subgroups, the scattered disc objects (SDOs), and the extreme trans-Neptunian objects including the ESDOs, EDDOs, and sednoids, which have a semi-major axis of at least 150 AU and a perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) greater than that of Neptune.[6] The list also contains several centaurs, if the object's orbit has a sufficiently large semi-major axis (a). Centaurs have unstable orbits in which the perihelion (q) is well inside of Neptune's orbit but the farthest point (aphelion, Q) is very distant.

The first TNO to be discovered was Pluto in 1930. It became the namesake of a larger group of resonant objects called plutinos (another such resonant subgroup are the twotinos). It took more than 60 years to discover a second TNO, Albion (provisionally known as 1992 QB1), in 1992. The largest known trans-Neptunian objects are Pluto and Eris, followed by Haumea and Makemake, all of them being officially recognized as dwarf planets by the IAU. There are also several dwarf planet candidates such as Gonggong, Quaoar, Sedna, and Orcus. Most TNOs have low albedos typically around 0.09. Their color varies from blue-grey to very red (classes BB, BR, IR and RR). The following list also gives an object's full designation, mean-diameter (D), and discovery circumstances (date, discoverer and discovery site), as well as its orbital inclination (i) and eccentricity (e).

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Remo-2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Weissman and Johnson, 2007, Encyclopedia of the solar system, footnote p. 584
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-List-TNOs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-List-Cen-and-SDO was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference TNO-list-Johnstons was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference de-la-Fuente-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).