section_path: History of observations
section_name: History of observations
paragraph_text: History of observations
  
  Despite their large numbers, asteroids are a relatively recent discovery, with the first one—Ceres—only being identified in 1801. Only one asteroid, 4 Vesta, which has a relatively reflective surface, is normally visible to the naked eye in dark skies when it is favorably positioned. Rarely, small asteroids passing close to Earth may be briefly visible to the naked eye. As of April 2022, the Minor Planet Center had data on 1,199,224 minor planets in the inner and outer Solar System, of which about 614,690 had enough information to be given numbered designations.