Minor Planet Center Orbit Database (MPCORB)

This anon-ftp directory contains the latest version of MPCORB in a
variety of formats.

  MPCORB.DAT          Uncompressed version (LF terminated)
  MPCORB.ZIP          Compressed version (LF terminated)

  MPCORBcr.DAT        Uncompressed version (CR-LF terminated)
  MPCORBcr.ZIP        Compressed version (CR-LF terminated)

The MPCORBcr files are intended primarily for users of PCs.

These files are rebuilt each night, generally between 02:00 and
03:00 EST (07:00 and 08:00 UT), except during the short period each
month when the next batch of Minor Planet Circulars are being
prepared.

Other files contain subsets of the above main file:

  NEA.DAT              NEAs (LF terminated)
  NEAcr.DAT            NEAs (CR-LF terminated)
  PHA.DAT              PHAs (LF terminated)
  PHAcr.DAT            PHAs (CR-LF terminated)
  Unusuals.DAT         Unusual objects (LF terminated)
  UnusualsCR.DAT       Unusual objects (CR-LF terminated)
  DistantObjects.DAT   Distant objects (LF terminated)
  DistantObjectsCR.DAT Distant objects (CR-LF terminated)
  DAILY.DAT            Contains the orbits newly added to MPCORB.DAT (LF terminated)
  DAILYcr.DAT          Contains the orbits newly added to MPCORB.DAT (CR-LF terminated)

  Previous versions of DAILY.DAT and DAILYcr.DAT are stored in
  DAILY-xx.DAT and DAILYcr-xx.DAT, where xx is "01" for the previous
  version, "02" for the version before that, etc.

The directory also contains the elements for the (potentially)
observable comets.

  COMET.DAT           Uncompressed version (LF terminated)
  COMETcr.DAT         Uncompressed version (CR-LF terminated)

Since the COMET*.DAT files are so small, there is no compressed version.

Also included are elements of NEAs for non-standard epochs:

  NEAtod.DAT          Elements for 0h UT today (LF terminated)
  NEAtodCR.DAT        Elements for 0h UT today (CR-LF terminated)
  NEAtom.DAT          Elements for 0h UT tomorrow (LF terminated)
  NEAtomCR.DAT        Elements for 0h UT tomorrow (CR-LF termninated)
  NEA+XX.DAT          Elements for 0h UT today + XX (LF terminated)
  NEA+XXCR.DAT        Elements for 0h UT today + XX (CR-LF terminated)
  NEA-XX.DAT          Elements for 0h UT today - XX (LF terminated)
  NEA-XXCR.DAT        Elements for 0h UT today - XX (CR-LD terminated)

The format of the files is described at:

http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/info/OrbFormat.html

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Also in this directory are some files suitable for users of popular
planetarium-type software:

  SkyMap.CAT       Numbered minor planets for SkyMap
  SkyMap.ZIP       Compressed version of SkyMap.CAT

These files are updated monthly after each batch of MPCs is prepared, except
for those occasions when a mini-batch of MPCs is prepared (i.e., no new
numberings occur).

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Comments/bug reports to mpc@cfa.harvard.edu