Small Body

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Small Solar System Body (SSSB) is an object in the Solar System that is neither a planet, a dwarf planet, nor a natural satellite. The term was first defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). This encompasses all comets and all minor planets other than those that are dwarf planets. Thus SSSBs are: the comets; the classical asteroids, with the exception of the dwarf planet Ceres; the trojans; and the centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects, with the exception of the dwarf planets Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris and others that may turn out to be dwarf planets. — Wikipedia

Minor Planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun (or more broadly, any star with a planetary system) that is neither a planet nor exclusively classified as a comet. Before 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially used the term minor planet, but during that year’s meeting it reclassified minor planets and comets into dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies (SSSBs). Minor planets include asteroids (near-Earth objects, Mars-crossers, main-belt asteroids and Jupiter trojans), as well as distant minor planets (centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects), most of which reside in the Kuiper belt and the scattered disc. — Wikipedia

Small Body (Encyclopædia Britannica)

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Inspiration

NASA’s Eyes is a freely available suite of computer visualization applications created by the Visualization Technology Applications and Development Team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to render scientifically accurate views of the planets studied by JPL missions and the spacecraft used in that study. Eyes on Astroids provides real-time visualization of every known asteroid or coment that is classified as a Near-Earth Object (NEO). You can also explore most of NASA’s asteroid and comet missions (past and present), from Galileo , to Lucy and DART.– Wikipedia

Eyes on Asteroids (NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System, NASA’s JPL & Cal Tech)

Asteroids (Astrum, YouTube Playlist)
Comets (Astrum, YouTube Playlist)

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Innovation

Science

ScienceAtNASA (YouTube Channel)
NASA Science (Official Website)

NASA (YouTube Channel)
NASA (Official Website)

Small Bodies of the Solar System (NASA Science)
Asteroids, Comets & Meteors (NASA Science)

Center for Near Earth Object Studies (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Asteroid Watch (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Asteroids, Comets and Other Small Worlds (Planetary Society)

Object Search (Minor Planet Center, International Astronomical Union)

Minor Planets (Wolfram Alpha)

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Preservation

Museum

Small Solar System Bodies (Exploring the Planets, National Air and Space Museum)
Dwarf Planets (National Air and Space Museum)

Library

DDC: 523.49 Small Bodies (Library Thing)

LCC: QB 377 SMall Bodies (Library of Congress)
Subject: Small Bodies (Library of Congress)

Subject: Small Bodies (WorldCat)

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Participation

Education

NASAeClips (YouTube Channel)
NASAeClips (Official Website)

More to Explore: Asteroids, Comets and Meteorites (NASA)
NASA Learning Objects: Small Body Data-Base Search Engine (NASA/MERLOT)

Asteroids and Comets (Science Trek)

Small Solar System Bodies Learning Resources (National Air and Space Museum)
Dwarf Planets Learning Resources (National Air and Space Museum)

Community

Organization

Minor Planet Center (International Astronomical Union)
Asteroids & Remote Planets Section (British Astronomical Association)

News

Asteroid and Comet Watch (NASA)
Asteroids, Comets and Meteors (Science Daily)
Solar System Body Small (Phys.org)

Recent News from Phys.org …

Binary asteroids' puzzling configurations may...
on June 11, 2026 at 2:20 pm
Binary asteroid systems are widespread throughout our inner solar system. For decades, the standard paradigm held that many of them form when a rapidly spinning primary asteroid casts off material, which then reaccumulates into an elongated moon orbiting near the Roche limit.
Asteroid dirt is 'fluffier' than we thought
on June 4, 2026 at 12:40 am
The strength of gravity is different on every body in the solar system. Whether it's the crushing weight of Jupiter or the minuscule pull of a small asteroid, this fundamental force of physics still has a major impact on the material those bodies are made up of. A new paper from researchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) showcases just how different it can be by letting planetary simulants freefall inside a giant drop tower and measuring how "fluffy" […]
Rare meteorite provides evidence of giant early...
on June 2, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Four-and-a-half billion years ago, a massive world—possibly as big as the moon or even Mars—orbited our sun before crashing into another celestial body and shattering into rubble. Now, in a paper published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, scientists report the first definitive evidence that this lost planetary embryo (protoplanet) existed. Its unique geological makeup challenges long-held assumptions about how planets evolve.
Just outside Jupiter, one region may have forged...
on May 22, 2026 at 10:00 pm
When the solar system formed, a disk of gas and dust orbited the young sun. Over the course of millions of years, the dust gradually clumped together to form kilometer-sized chunks known as planetesimals. Some grew into planets, while the rest are considered to be the precursors of today's asteroids. Researchers assume that this development did not proceed in a linear fashion, with different stages of planetesimal development occurring simultaneously, and not every region of the disk offering […]