Template:Minor planet color code legend/doc

Color code for orbital classification of numbered minor planets

The colorization is based on the following defining criteria of a minor planet's (MPs) orbital elements such as semimajor axis a, perihelion distance q, aphelion distance Q, and orbital eccentricity e. Figures below give the actual number distribution of MPs by color-coded orbital class. They are used in the color-coded partial lists of minor planets.

Principal orbital groups	MPs (#)	MPs (%)	Distribution	Orbital criteria
Near-Earth object(a)	3,104	0.50%	<imagemap> File:Circle frame.svg|250px poly 100 100 200 100 199 99 199 97 100 100 NEOs: 3,104 (0.5%) poly 100 100 199 97 199 95 199 93 199 91 199 91 100 100 MCs: 6,180 (1.0%) poly 100 100 199 91 199 89 199 87 198 85 198 83 198 81 197 79 197 77 196 75 196 73 195 71 195 70 194 68 193 66 193 64 192 62 191 60 190 58 189 57 188 55 188 53 187 51 186 50 185 48 183 46 182 44 181 43 180 41 179 40 178 38 176 36 175 35 174 33 172 32 171 31 170 29 168 28 167 26 165 25 164 24 162 23 161 21 159 20 157 19 156 18 154 17 152 16 151 15 149 14 147 13 145 12 144 11 142 10 140 9 138 8 136 7 134 7 132 6 131 5 129 5 127 4 125 4 123 3 121 3 119 2 117 2 115 2 113 1 111 1 109 1 107 1 105 1 103 1 101 1 99 1 97 1 95 1 93 1 91 1 89 1 87 1 85 2 83 2 81 2 79 3 77 3 75 3 73 4 71 5 70 5 68 6 66 6 64 7 62 8 60 9 58 9 57 10 55 11 53 12 51 13 50 14 100 100 MBA (inner): 195,710 (31.7%) poly 100 100 50 14 48 15 47 16 45 17 43 18 42 19 40 20 38 21 37 23 35 24 34 25 32 27 31 28 29 29 28 31 27 32 25 34 24 35 23 37 21 38 20 40 19 41 18 43 17 45 15 46 14 48 13 50 12 51 11 53 10 55 10 57 9 59 8 60 7 62 6 64 6 66 5 68 4 70 4 72 3 74 3 75 2 77 2 79 1 81 1 83 1 85 0 87 0 89 0 91 0 93 0 95 0 97 0 99 0 101 0 103 0 105 0 107 0 109 0 111 0 113 1 115 1 117 1 119 2 121 2 123 3 125 3 127 4 129 4 131 5 133 5 135 6 136 7 138 8 140 8 142 9 144 10 146 11 147 12 149 13 151 14 153 15 154 16 156 17 158 19 159 20 161 21 162 22 164 23 165 25 167 26 168 28 170 29 171 30 173 32 174 33 175 35 177 36 178 38 179 39 180 41 182 43 183 44 184 46 185 48 186 49 187 51 188 53 189 55 190 57 191 58 192 59 192 100 100 MBA (middle): 216,729 (35.1%) poly 100 100 59 192 61 193 63 194 65 194 67 195 68 196 70 196 72 197 74 197 76 198 78 198 80 199 82 199 84 199 86 200 88 200 90 200 92 200 94 200 96 200 98 200 100 200 102 200 104 200 106 200 108 200 110 200 112 200 114 199 116 199 118 199 120 198 122 198 124 198 126 197 128 196 129 196 131 195 133 195 135 194 137 193 139 192 141 192 143 191 144 190 146 189 148 188 150 187 151 186 153 185 155 184 156 183 158 182 160 180 161 179 163 178 164 177 166 175 167 174 169 173 170 171 172 170 173 168 174 167 176 165 177 164 178 162 179 161 181 159 182 157 183 156 184 154 185 152 186 151 187 149 188 147 189 145 190 144 191 142 191 140 192 138 193 136 194 134 194 133 195 131 195 129 196 127 196 125 197 123 197 121 198 119 198 117 198 115 199 113 199 111 199 109 199 108 100 100 MBA (outer): 187,562 (30.4%) poly 100 100 199 108 199 106 199 104 199 102 199 102 100 100 JTs: 6,300 (1.0%) poly 100 100 199 102 199 101 100 100 Centaurs: 158 (0.0%) poly 100 100 199 101 200 101 100 100 TNOs: 912 (0.1%) desc none </imagemap>	q < 1.3 AU
Mars-crosser	6,180	1.00%		1.3 AU < q < 1.666 AU; a < 3.2 AU
MBA (inner)	195,710	31.74%		a < 2.5 AU; q > 1.666 AU
MBA (middle)	216,729	35.14%		2.5 AU < a < 2.82 AU; q > 1.666 AU
MBA (outer)	187,562	30.41%		2.82 AU < a < 4.6 AU; q > 1.666 AU
Jupiter trojan	6,300	1.02%		4.6 AU < a < 5.5 AU; e < 0.3
Centaur	158	0.03%		5.5 AU < a < 30.1 AU
Trans-Neptunian object	912	0.15%		a > 30.1 AU
Total (numbered)	616,690(b)	100%		Source: JPL's SBDB

^(a) NEO-subgroups with number of members: Aten (255), Amor (1,275), Apollo (1,566) and Atira (8) asteroids.

^(b) Including 35 unclassified bodies: 6144 Kondojiro, 8373 Stephengould, 9767 Midsomer Norton, (18916) 2000 OG₄₄, (32511) 2001 NX₁₇, (96177) 1984 BC, (115916) 2003 WB₈, (136620) 1994 JC, (144870) 2004 MA₈, (241944) 2002 CU₁₄₇, (275618) 2000 AU₂₄₂, (301964) 2000 EJ₃₇, (306418) 1998 KK₅₆, (322713) 2000 KD₄₁, (363135) 2001 QQ₁₉₉, (393350) 1992 RN₁, (405058) 2001 TX₁₆, (406803) 2008 UX₆₄, (477587) 2010 JT₈₆, (487496) 2014 SE₂₈₈, (490171) 2008 UD₂₅₃, (494667) 2001 WX₁, (497009) 2003 BU₃₅, (497619) 2006 QL₃₉, (504160) 2006 SV₃₀₁, 514107 Ka`epaoka`awela, (518509) 2006 FZ₅₁, (524114) 2000 SB₁, (526889) 2007 GH₆, (584530) 2017 GY₁₀, (612078) 1998 UQ₁, (612320) 2001 XE₁₀₄, (613709) 2007 CM₅₇, (613987) 2008 JO₂₀, (614590) 2009 XY₂₁ (colored as    for being unclassified).

Hexadecimal map

Code	Group	Code	Group
#FFC2E0	NEOs	#FA8072	MCs
#FEFEFE	MBA (inner)	#E9E9E9	MBA (middle)
#D6D6D6	MBA (outer)	#C2FFFF	JTs
#C7FF8F	Centaurs	#C2E0FF	TNOs
#B88A00	unclassified

Sources for classification

The orbital classification largely follows JPL's conventions (see definitions below), except for the boundary of inner/outer main-belt asteroids which are grouped by the two major Kirkwood gaps (a at 2.5 and 2.82 AU, instead of JPL's 2.0 and 3.2 AU). Also the Apollo, Amor, Aten, and Atira groups have no distinct color and are displayed with one color as NEOs. For outer main-belt asteroids, the criteria "q > 1.666 AU" has also been added.

• MCAs Asteroids that cross the orbit of Mars constrained by (1.3 AU < q < 1.666 AU; a < 3.2 AU).
• JTs Asteroids trapped in Jupiter's L4/L5 Lagrangian points (4.6 AU < a < 5.5 AU; e < 0.3).
• CEN Objects with orbits between Jupiter and Neptune (5.5 AU < a < 30.1 AU).
• TNO Objects with orbits outside Neptune (a > 30.1 AU).
• MBA (middle) Asteroids with orbital elements constrained by (2.0 AU < a < 3.2 AU; q > 1.666 AU).
• MBA (inner) Asteroids with orbital elements constrained by (a < 2.0 AU; q > 1.666 AU).
• MBA (outer) Asteroids with orbital elements constrained by (3.2 AU < a < 4.6 AU).
• APO Near-Earth asteroid orbits which cross the Earth's orbit similar to that of 1862 Apollo (a > 1.0 AU; q < 1.017 AU).
• ATE Near-Earth asteroid orbits similar to that of 2062 Aten (a < 1.0 AU; Q > 0.983 AU).
• AMO Near-Earth asteroid orbits similar to that of 1221 Amor (1.017 AU < q < 1.3 AU).
• ATI Asteroid orbits contained entirely within the orbit of the Earth (Q < 0.983 AU). Also known as Interior Earth Objects.

Remarks

• Unclassified: A handful of minor planets can not be classified with the above given criteria. These are objects with a semi-major axis corresponding to those of Jupiter trojans, but with an eccentricity larger than 0.3. Others are Mars-crossing (MPC) outer main-belt asteroids (JPL).
• Divergent classification: A relatively larger number of objects may be differently classified . In particular, JPL's Small-Body Database and the Minor Planet Center's website often do not agree on the distinction of main-belt Hungaria and Mars-crosser asteroids.
• {{Infobox planet}}: adjust the background color of the heading sections in {{Infobox planet}} to the above color scheme with |background=. This allows for a basic distinction of NEOs, MBAs, Jupiter trojans, centaurs and TNOs at first glance. Since the background of the infobox itself already uses a light-grey background color, the heading sections should use #D6D6D6 for all main-belt object articles, irrespective whether they are inner, middle or outer belt asteroids.