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Although relatively few minor planets have been explored by spacecraft, a high fraction of them have proved to be anything but boring, some having accompanying moons, others adopting unusual shapes and some spraying jets of debris.—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 26 Feb. 2025 Even still, this is not the first time that artificial objects have fooled their way into the MPC’s minor planet database.—Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Jan. 2025 In Asimov’s trilogy, the Mule is eventually brought under control, stripped of his powers, and sent back to his own minor planet with the galactic order restored.—Margaret MacMillan, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025 The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which maintains a list of (no points award for guessing correctly) minor planets within the Solar System, has a running tally.—Paul Sutter, Ars Technica, 10 May 2024 The naming of asteroids — which are also known as minor planets or small solar system bodies — is overseen by a group of professional astronomers, part of the International Astronomical Union.—Elisabetta Povoledo, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2023 First discovered in 1997, Chariklo is an icy asteroid, one of the building blocks of the solar system, but it’s also known as a minor planet.—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2023 Which type of space rock is also referred to as a minor planet?—CNN, 29 Sep. 2022 Once thought to be an asteroid, it is now classified as a comet or minor planet.—Meghan Rose, Glamour, 11 Aug. 2022
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