<p>Too long for a comment:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Is it possible to use this information to get more information about this asteroid, like its name, orbital details etc?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don't think it's so simple! When we see a spot in an image at a certain time, yes one can calculate the apparent positions of all known asteroid orbits (almost a million of them!) and see which ones match most closely, then use the apparent magnitude as a secondary matching criteria.</p>
<p>But both of these will have uncertainties; for many objects in the MPC database there may only be a few observations and so their propagated orbits will have positional uncertainties at a given time, and if the object is not a uniform sphere and/or it changes temperature and albedo when it gets closer/further from the Sun, its apparent magnitude will vary.</p>
<p>So I think the best you can get is a list of possible matches, with uncertainties. After that, one should go back a few times hours, days, or months later (depending on its proper motion) and get new positions and see if its movement matches the predicted movement of any of the candidates.</p>
<p><strong>But I am guessing</strong> that you know this already, and are asking HOW to do this process in an automated way - from all the data available in MPC.</p>
<p>If you would like a DIY solution, then try the Python package Skyfield. See for example <a href="https://rhodesmill.org/skyfield/kepler-orbits.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Skyfield: Kepler orbits</a> You could go through all the orbital element sets available at MPC one at a time, propagate them to the date/time of your image, and build a table of close candidates (you decide how close) and then do the same for your next images taken hours/days/months later and write your own filtering algorithm.</p>
<p><strong>But hopefully there will be other answers posted soon</strong> with ready-to-run solutions that don't require you working (and debugging) the problem DIY-style from scratch.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-21T20:46:11.670Z
2023-02-21T20:46:11.670Z
uhoh
<p>I have the RA - Dec position of a potential asteroid and the time at which it was taken. Is it possible to use this information to get more information about this asteroid, like its name, orbital details etc?</p>
<p>I know Minor Planet Centre databases can help to get the ephemeris of an asteroid using its name. But is the reverse possible?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-22T13:11:31.097Z
Use planetarium software like Stellarium, set the date and time, and go to that RA/Dec.
Greg Miller
<asteroids><ephemeris>
How to get the name of an asteroid if I have it's RA - dec position at a particular time?
Radium
# How to get the name of an asteroid if I have it's RA - dec position at a particular time?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-02-21)

I have the RA - Dec position of a potential asteroid and the time at which it was taken. Is it possible to use this information to get more information about this asteroid, like its name, orbital details etc?

I know Minor Planet Centre databases can help to get the ephemeris of an asteroid using its name. But is the reverse possible?

**Tags:** asteroids, ephemeris

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Use planetarium software like Stellarium, set the date and time, and go to that RA/Dec.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-02-21. Score: 2

Too long for a comment:

> Is it possible to use this information to get more information about this asteroid, like its name, orbital details etc?

I don't think it's so simple! When we see a spot in an image at a certain time, yes one can calculate the apparent positions of all known asteroid orbits (almost a million of them!) and see which ones match most closely, then use the apparent magnitude as a secondary matching criteria.

But both of these will have uncertainties; for many objects in the MPC database there may only be a few observations and so their propagated orbits will have positional uncertainties at a given time, and if the object is not a uniform sphere and/or it changes temperature and albedo when it gets closer/further from the Sun, its apparent magnitude will vary.

So I think the best you can get is a list of possible matches, with uncertainties. After that, one should go back a few times hours, days, or months later (depending on its proper motion) and get new positions and see if its movement matches the predicted movement of any of the candidates.

**But I am guessing** that you know this already, and are asking HOW to do this process in an automated way - from all the data available in MPC.

If you would like a DIY solution, then try the Python package Skyfield. See for example [Skyfield: Kepler orbits](https://rhodesmill.org/skyfield/kepler-orbits.html) You could go through all the orbital element sets available at MPC one at a time, propagate them to the date/time of your image, and build a table of close candidates (you decide how close) and then do the same for your next images taken hours/days/months later and write your own filtering algorithm.

**But hopefully there will be other answers posted soon** with ready-to-run solutions that don't require you working (and debugging) the problem DIY-style from scratch.


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