2020as

2020as is a designation that appears in several contexts, most notably as a provisional astronomical designation associated with objects discovered in the year 2020. In astronomy, provisional designations are assigned by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center to minor planets and comets before they receive permanent naming.

In the standard IAU system, a designation such as 2020 AS encodes the year of discovery and a code for the discovery sequence within a given time interval. The year portion is followed by two letters that indicate the half-month of discovery and the order of discovery within that interval; if more objects are found than the letters allow, numeric suffixes are used. The official presentation typically uses a space, written as 2020 AS, in catalog entries and formal records. A specific object bearing this designation would be tracked with documented orbital elements and observational data.

Because many objects are discovered each year, a designation like 2020 AS does not uniquely identify a single object without consulting the MPC or related databases such as the JPL Small-Body Database. It is possible that more than one object could have had a similar or overlapping provisional code during 2020, further emphasizing the need to reference the full record for precise identification.

Beyond astronomy, the string 2020as can function as a nonstandard code or label in other domains, such as dataset identifiers or project naming, where capitalization, spacing, and context determine its meaning. See also provisional designation and Minor Planet Center guidelines.