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The MPC Orbit (MPCORB) Database
The MPC Orbit (MPCORB) database contains orbital elements of minor planets
that have been published in the
Minor Planet Circulars, the
Minor Planet Orbit Supplement and the
Minor Planet Electronic Circulars.
MPCORB is available for free downloading from the anon-ftp link below:
ftp://cfa-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/MPCORB/
Download either the complete file or daily updates.
If your browser does not reach the above link, try accesing:
ftp://cfa-ftp.harvard.edu/
and then navigate manually to the "pub" directory and then to the "MPCORB"
directory. Some (at least) versions of IE apparently cannot cope with a
directory specification in a ftp-style URL.
Please note the following important information:
- Note that the security features used in this ftp server
require that your machine be found in a "reverse DNS lookup"
in order to access this site. A number of ISPs do not properly
DNS-register their IP addresses: attempts at access from such
ISPs will fail. You should complain to your ISP if your machine
cannot access this ftp server.
- You must also ensure that you have set your anonymous ftp password
in your browser. This password must contain the "@" character. It
is standard practice to use your e-mail address (or something that
looks a valid e-mail address) as your anonymous ftp password.
The default values for this setting in browsers such as Netscape
and Mozilla will NOT work.
- You can verify your IP address here:
if your IP address
passes this test and you can't access the site and your
anonymous ftp password is valid, you should contact the
CfA web admin (use the link at the bottom of
this page).
If you still cannot access our site, you will have to access the database
via one of the mirror sites (see next section for details).
Information on the format of the elements is available via the
Documentation page.
Mirror Sites
Mirror sites of the MPCORB datafiles (updated by the MPC) are available as follows:
- Czech Astronomical Society, Czech Republic
We would like to set up further mirrors of the MPCORB datafiles in order
to achieve good geographical distribution. If you are interested in
hosting a mirror, please read this.
Other mirror sites of the MPCORB datafiles (updated by third
parties from the MPC site) are available as follows:
Index to the CBAT/MPC/ICQ pages.
MPC
