598668

598668 is the permanent numerical designation assigned by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) to a specific minor planet, a small body in the Solar System. The number is given once the object's orbit has been sufficiently well determined, providing a stable reference that does not depend on a name. At the time of discovery, such objects receive a provisional designation; after enough observations confirm the orbit, they are given a sequential number, and naming may follow subject to IAU approval.

As of the MPC’s catalog, 598668 has not been given a formal name. The process of naming is separate from numbering and can occur later if the discoverers choose to propose a name that is accepted by the International Astronomical Union.

Detailed information about the orbit and any known physical characteristics of 598668 is maintained by the MPC and is also available in the JPL Small-Body Database. For many minor planets, full physical data such as diameter, albedo, rotation period, or spectral type are not known and remain to be determined through targeted observations.

598668 is one entry in the extensive catalog of numbered minor planets, a system that allows astronomers to reference and study hundreds of thousands of such bodies. The sequence of numbers progresses as new objects are confirmed and added to the catalog, independent of any eventual naming.