MPC Software¶
Software packages developed and maintained by the Minor Planet Center.
digest2¶
NEO orbit classification from short-arc astrometric tracklets.
digest2 is a fast short-arc orbit classifier for minor planets, primarily used to identify Near-Earth Object (NEO) candidates from astrometric tracklets. It has been in operational use at the Minor Planet Center for over 15 years and is a key component of the NEO discovery workflow.
Available as both a C command-line tool and a pip-installable Python package (pip install digest2).
mpc_orb¶
Standardized JSON format for the exchange of best-fit orbit data for solar-system bodies.
mpc_orb defines a JSON-based format for exchanging orbit data for minor planets, comets, irregular satellites, and interstellar interlopers. The MPC currently populates mpc_orb.json files using data from the orbfit package, but the format is intended for generic exchange of orbit data from any source.
Available as a pip-installable Python package (pip install mpc_orb).
ADES (Astrometry Data Exchange Standard)¶
The standard format for submitting and exchanging astrometric observations of solar-system objects.
ADES defines both XML and PSV (pipe-separated value) formats for astrometric data exchange. It is jointly maintained by the MPC and the JPL Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).