The following is a collection of lists of asteroids of the Solar System that are exceptional in some way, such as their size or orbit. For the purposes of this article, "asteroid" refers to minor planets out to the orbit of Neptune, and includes the dwarf planet Ceres, the Jupiter trojans and the centaurs, but not trans-Neptunian objects (objects in the Kuiper belt, scattered disc or inner Oort cloud). For a complete list of minor planets in numerical order, see List of minor planets.

Asteroids are given minor planet numbers, but not all minor planets are asteroids. Minor planet numbers are also given to objects of the Kuiper belt, which is similar to the asteroid belt but farther out (around 30–60 AU). Asteroids are mostly between 2–3 AU from the Sun or at the orbit of Jupiter, 5 AU from the Sun. Comets are not typically included under minor planet numbers, and have their own naming conventions.

Asteroids are given a unique sequential identifying number once their orbit is precisely determined. Prior to this, they are known only by their systematic name or provisional designation, such as .

Physical characteristics

Largest by diameter Estimating the sizes of asteroids from observations is difficult due to their irregular shapes, varying albedo, and small angular diameter. Observations by the Very Large Telescope of most large asteroids were published 2019–2021.P. Vernazza et al. (2021) VLT/SPHERE imaging survey of the largest main-belt asteroids: Final results and synthesis. Astronomy & Astrophysics 54, A56 As of Jan 2019, good rotational coverage (≥ 4 epochs) had also been obtained for 476 Hedwig and 596 Scheila.

NamePicture Diameter (km)(geometric mean) Dimensions (km) Mean distancefrom Sun (in AU) Inclination (°) Date discovered Discoverer Class 964.4 × 964.2 × 891.8 2.766 10.6 Piazzi, G. G 572.6 × 557.2 × 446.4 ± 0.2 2.362 7.14 Olbers, H. W. V 568×530×450 2.773 34.9 Olbers, H. W. B 450×430×424 3.139 5.1 de Gasparis, A. C 362×348×310 3.062 17.3 Cerulli, V. F 378×336×255 3.095 7.48 Goldschmidt, H. C 359×293×253 3.168 15.9 Dugan, R. S. C 363×249×191or 374×248×194 3.485 10.9 Pogson, N. R. X 357×255×212 2.643 11.75 de Gasparis, A. S 294×280×248 3.149 26.3 Ferguson, J. C 3.439 3.56 Tempel, E. W. C (if bilobe) 403 × 201 5.235 18.66 Kopff, A. D 288×250×225 2.672 12.98 Harding, K. L. S 3.059 15.2 Charlois, A. M. Pajuelo, Benoit Carry, Frédéric Vachier, Michael Marsset et al. (March 2018) Physical, spectral, and dynamical properties of asteroid (107) Camilla and its satellites, Icarus 309 3.476 10 Pogson, N. R. C 234×224×225 2.684 11.1 Palisa, J. C 279×232×189 ± 10% 2.924 3.1 de Gasparis, A. M 255×232×193 2.769 5.22 Peters, C. H. F. B 257×211×185 3.108 6.55 Goldschmidt, H. C 225×205×195 2.442 1.57 Hind, J. R. G ? 3.457 7.6 Watson, J. C. C 232×220×176 3.136 0.76 de Gasparis, A. C ? (< 200 km) 225×173 3.160 7.97 Watson, J. C. C 222×209×183 2.554 6.08 Marth, A. S 238×199×182 2.576 16.54 de Gasparis, A. G 262×205×164 3.127 22.78 C. H. F. Peters C 268×234×180 2.386 5.52 Hind, J. R. S 205x185x170 2.426 14.75 Hencke, K. L. S 3.126 15.94 Charlois, A. C 3.195 20.59 Helffrich, J. C/B 252×191×138 2.720 6.61 Goldschmidt, H. F 235×183×153 2.765 15.77 Goldschmidt, H. C 3.19520.972 Henry, P. M. C 3.065 11.23 Charlois, A. C 3.135 10.81 Peters, C. H. F. C/P/X 3.149 23.83 Charlois, A. B 222×182×130 2.385 5.58 Graham, A. S 2.772 16.31 Wolf, M. S 191×162×144 2.798 18.4 Auguste Charlois S 178×163×1472.7516.25 Watson, J. C. C (4:1 resonance) [sort by 'Mean Distance from Sun' to place in table] 2.06(defines inner edge of main belt) (3:1 resonance) 2.50(separates inner from middle belt) (5:2 resonance) 2.82(separates middle from outer belt) (7:3 resonance) 2.95 (2:1 resonance) 3.27(defines outermost belt) (1:1 resonance) 5.20(Trojan asteroids – defines outer edge of main belt)

The number of bodies grows rapidly as the size decreases. Based on IRAS data there are about 140 main-belt asteroids with a diameter greater than 120 km, which is approximately the transition point between surviving primordial asteroids and fragments thereof. For a more complete list, see List of Solar System objects by size.

The inner asteroid belt (defined as the region interior to the 3:1 Kirkwood gap at 2.50 AU) has few large asteroids. Of those in the above list, only 4 Vesta, 19 Fortuna, 6 Hebe, 7 Iris and 9 Metis orbit there. (Sort table by mean distance.)

Most massive

Below are the sixteen most-massive measured asteroids."Recent Asteroid Mass Determinations" . Maintained by Jim Baer. Last updated 2010-12-12. Access date 2011-09-02. Ceres, at a third the estimated mass of the asteroid belt, is half again as massive as the next fifteen put together. The masses of asteroids are estimated from perturbations they induce on the orbits of other asteroids, except for asteroids that have been visited by spacecraft or have an observable moon, where a direct mass calculation is possible. Different sets of astrometric observations lead to different mass determinations; the biggest problem is accounting for the aggregate perturbations caused by all of the smaller asteroids.

+ Asteroids with nominal mass > Name Mass Precision Approx.proportionof allasteroids 1 Ceres 938.35 0.001% (938.34–938.36) 39.2% 4 Vesta 259.076 0.0004% (259.075–259.077) 10.8% 2 Pallas 204 1.5% (201–207) 8.5% 10 Hygiea 87 8% (80–94) 3.6% 704 Interamnia 35 14% (30–40) 1.5% 15 Eunomia 30 6% (29–32) 1.3% 3 Juno 27 9% (25–29) 1.1% 511 Davida 27 27% (19–34) 1.1% 52 Europa 24 16% (20–28) 1.0% 16 Psyche 23 13% (20–26) 1.0% 532 Herculina ≈ 23 ? ≈ 1% 31 Euphrosyne 17 18% (14–19) 0.7% 65 Cybele 15 12% (13–17) 0.6% 87 Sylvia 14.76 0.4% (14.70–14.82)F. Marchis; et al. (2005). "Discovery of the triple asteroidal system 87 Sylvia" (PDF). Nature. 436 (7052): 822–4. Bibcode:2005Natur.436..822M. doi:10.1038/nature04018. PMID 16094362. S2CID 4412813 0.6% 7 Iris 14 17% (11–16) 0.6% 29 Amphitrite 13 16% (11–15) 0.5% 6 Hebe 12 20% (10–15) 0.5% 88 Thisbe 12 20% (9–14) 0.5% 107 Camilla 11.2 1% (11.1–11.3)M. Pajuelo, Benoit Carry, Frédéric Vachier, Michael Marsset et al. (March 2018) Physical, spectral, and dynamical properties of asteroid (107) Camilla and its satellites, Icarus 309 0.5% 324 Bamberga 10 9% (9–11) 0.4% Total 1781 NA 75% The proportions assume that the total mass of the asteroid belt is , or .

Outside the top four, the ranking of all the asteroids is uncertain, as there is a great deal of overlap among the estimates.

The largest asteroids with an accurately measured mass, because they have been studied by the probe Dawn, are 1 Ceres with a mass of , and 4 Vesta at . The third-largest asteroid with an accurately measured mass, because it has moons, is 87 Sylvia at . Other large asteroids with masses measured from their moons are 107 Camilla and 130 Elektra.M. Pajuelo, Benoit Carry, Frédéric Vachier, Michael Marsset et al. (March 2018) Physical, spectral, and dynamical properties of asteroid (107) Camilla and its satellites, Icarus 309Berdeu, Anthony; Langlois, Maud; Vachier, Frédéric (February 2021). "First observation of a quadruple asteroid. Detection of a third moon around (130) Elektra with SPHERE/IFS". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 658: 21.

For a more complete list, see List of Solar System objects by size. Other large asteroids such as 423 Diotima currently only have estimated masses.Michalak, G. (2001), assumed masses of perturbing asteroids used in calculations of perturbations of the test asteroids.

Brightest from Earth Only Vesta is regularly bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. Under ideal viewing conditions with very dark skies, a keen eye might be able to also see Ceres, as well as Pallas and Iris at their rare perihelic oppositions. The following asteroids can all reach an apparent magnitude brighter than or equal to the +8.3 attained by Saturn's moon Titan at its brightest, which was discovered 145 years before the first asteroid was found owing to its closeness to the easily observed Saturn.

None of the asteroids in the outer part of the asteroid belt can ever attain this brightness. Even Hygiea and Interamnia rarely reach magnitudes of above 10.0. This is due to the different distributions of spectral types within different sections of the asteroid belt: the highest-albedo asteroids are all concentrated closer to the orbit of Mars, and much lower albedo C and D types are common in the outer belt.

Those asteroids with very high eccentricities will only reach their maximum magnitude rarely, when their perihelion is very close to a heliocentric conjunction with Earth, or (in the cases of 433 Eros, 99942 Apophis, , , and 367943 Duende) when the asteroid passes very close to Earth.

AsteroidMagnitudewhenbrightest Semi-majoraxis (AU) Eccentricityof orbit Diameter(km) Year ofdiscovery 99942 Apophis 3.4* 0.922 0.191 0.32 2004 4 Vesta 5.20 2.361 0.089172 529 1807 2 Pallas 6.49 2.773 0.230725 544 1802 1 Ceres 6.65 2.766 0.079905 952 1801 7 Iris 6.73 2.385 0.231422 200 1847 433 Eros 6.8 1.458 0.222725 34 × 11 × 11 1898 6.85 1.711 0.467207 0.93 2001 367943 Duende 7.04 0.910 0.089319 0.04 × 0.02 2012 6 Hebe 7.5 2.425 0.201726 186 1847 3 Juno 7.5 2.668 0.258194 233 1804 18 Melpomene 7.5 2.296 0.218708 141 1852 7.74 1.448 0.639770 0.5 1998 15 Eunomia 7.9 2.643 0.187181 268 1851 8 Flora 7.9 2.202 0.156207 128 1847 324 Bamberga 8.0 2.682 0.338252 229 1892 1036 Ganymed 8.1 2.6657 0.533710 32 1924 9 Metis 8.1 2.387 0.121441 190 1848 192 Nausikaa 8.2 2.404 0.246216 103 1879 20 Massalia 8.3 2.409 0.142880 145 1852

* Apophis will only achieve that brightness on April 13, 2029. It typically has an apparent magnitude of 20–22.

Slowest rotators

This list contains the slowest-rotating known minor planets with a period of at least 1000 hours, or 41 days, while most bodies have rotation periods between 2 and 20 hours. Also see Potentially slow rotators for minor planets with an insufficiently accurate period ().

# Minor planet designation Rotation period(hours) Δmag Quality(U) Orbit or family Spectral type Diameter(km) Abs. mag(H) Refs 1880 0.6 2  NEO S 0.782 17.9 846 Lipperta 1641 0.30 2  Themis CBU: 52.41 10.26 2440 Educatio 1561 0.80 2  Flora S 6.51 13.1 912 Maritima 1332 0.18 3− MBA C 82.14  9.30 9165 Raup 1320 1.34 3− Hungaria S 4.62 13.60 1235 Schorria 1265 1.40 3  Hungaria CX: 5.04 13.10 50719 Elizabethgriffin 1256 0.42 2  Eunomia S 3.40 14.65 1234.2 0.69 2  Vestian S 2.96 15.01 288 Glauke 1170 0.90 3  MBA S 32.24 10.00 1167.4 0.80 2  MBA C 5.34 15.09 496 Gryphia 1072 1.25 3  Flora S 15.47 11.61 4524 Barklajdetolli 1069 1.26 2  Flora S 7.14 12.90 2675 Tolkien 1060 0.75 2+ Flora S 9.85 12.20 1007.7 0.86 2  MBA S 1.54 16.43

Fastest rotators

This list contains the fastest-rotating minor planets with a period of less than 100 seconds, or 0.0277 hours. Bodies with a highly uncertain period, having a quality of less than 2, are highlighted in dark-grey. The fastest rotating bodies are all unnumbered near-Earth objects (NEOs) with a diameter of less than 100 meters (see table).

Among the numbered minor planets with an unambiguous period solution are , a 60-meter sized stony NEO with a period of 352 seconds, as well as and , two main-belt asteroids, with a diameter of 0.86 and 2.25 kilometers and a period of 1.29 and 1.95 hours, respectively (see full list).