Further four SOHO comets received orbits and designations: C/2000 H6 (SOHO)
and C/2000 H7 (SOHO) are archival finds by R. Kracht, C/2002 H6 (SOHO)
was detected by M. Meyer. These three comets are members of the
Kreutz group.
C/2000 J8 (SOHO) is the 16th member of the
Meyer group and was found in
archival data by R. Kracht, too. SOHO has now found 433 new comets.
(MPEC 2002-H49)
04/26/2002
Three additional SOHO comets, all members of the Kreutz group, received orbits and
designations: C/2002 H3 (SOHO) was detected by X. Leprette, C/2002 H4 (SOHO)
and C/2002 H5 (SOHO) by X.-M. Zhou. SOHO has now found 429 new comets.
(MPEC 2002-H47)
04/24/2002
A first orbit for LINEARs 80th new comet discovery C/2002 H2 (LINEAR)
shows a perihelion already on March 23, 2002, at about 1.6 AU. The comet will fade.
It is still unclear how bright the comet might be visually.
(IAUC 7884, MPEC 2002-H40)
In archival all-sky data of the SWAN instrument aboard the SOHO spacecraft
a comet has been found and reported by T. Makinen. The comet C/2000 S5
passed perihelion on Oct. 27, 2000, at about 0.6 AU. The maximum brightness is
roughly estimated as about 8m but the comet was almost always close to
the sun, although better observable from southern skies. This is SOHOs 426th
new comet discovery.
(MPEC 2002-H41)
04/23/2002
New Discovery!:
On Apr. 22, 2002, the LINEAR program
discovered a new comet. After posting the object on the NEO Confirmation Page
the comet was confirmed by R. Apitzsch (Wildberg) and L. Sarounova (Ondrejov).
The brightness of the comet 2002 H2 is estimated to be 13.5m and
may be brighter visually. Astrometric followup is urgently required. A search
ephemeris can be generated on the
NEO Confirmation Page.
(IAUC 7883)
04/21/2002
One archival and one real-time SOHO comet received orbits and designations:
C/1999 F3 (SOHO) is the 15th member of the
Meyer group and was found by
R. Kracht. C/2002 H1 (SOHO), found by K. Cernis, is a member of the
Kreutz group. SOHO has
now found 425 new comets.
(MPEC 2002-H26)
04/20/2002
The 422nd and 423rd SOHO comets are members of the Kreutz
group. C/2002 G4 (SOHO) was detected by X. Leprette and C/2002 G5 (SOHO)
by R. Kracht.
(MPEC 2002-H15)
04/17/2002
On Apr. 12, the NEAT program discovered
an asteroid travelling in an orbit which is typical for comets of the Jupiter family.
The asteroid 2002 GJ8 reaches perihelion around
June 28 at a distance of 0.5 AU. Although predicted then to be only of 20m
and in May at maximum with about 16.5m the object should be monitored for
possible cometary activity.
(MPEC 2002-G62)
04/13/2002
On Apr. 12, 2002, X.-M. Zhou found a non-Kreutz comet in SOHO C3 real-time images.
A first and preliminary orbit for comet C/2002 G3 (SOHO) indicates a perihelion
on Apr. 17, 2002, at about 0.08 AU. The comet was about 8m at discovery
and becomes slowly brighter as it crosses the C3 field of view. It might become
observable from the ground in May (something that happened only with one SOHO comet
- C/1998 J1 - until now) but then already faint and fading fast. This is
SOHO's 421st new comet. (IAUC 7875,
MPEC 2002-G51)
04/11/2002
Yuji Hyakutake, discoverer of two comets, one the Great Comet of 1996, died at
age 51.
(Japan Today)
Dr. Konrad Dennerl of the Max Planck Institut für extraterrestrische Physik
seeks for simultaneous photographic or CCD observations of C/2002 C1 at the
following times:
15.04.2002 / 01:25 - 15.04.2002 / 04:38 UT
15.04.2002 / 22:48 - 16.04.2002 / 02:05 UT
He will then observe the comet with the X-ray satellite Chandra. Interested
observers should contact Dr. Dennerl with their results at kod@mpe.mpg.de.
Two archival SOHO comets, found by R. Kracht, received orbits and designations:
C/1999 W2 (SOHO) is a member of the
Kreutz group and
C/2002 A4 (SOHO) is the 14th member of the
Meyer group. SOHO has now
found 420 new comets.
(MPEC 2002-G45)
04/07/2002
New Discovery!:
An asteroidal object, discovered by LINEAR
already on Jan. 06, 2002, which received the designation 2002 AR2 showed
with follow-up observations by LINEAR a cometary orbit. The object was placed on
the NEO Confirmation Page and P. Berlind and T. B. Spahr (Whipple Obs., Mt. Hopkins)
were able to observe cometary activity. The 19m comet P/2002 AR2 (LINEAR)
passed perihelion already on Jan. 16, 2002, at about 2.1 AU. The period is about
12.5 years. This is LINEARs 79th new comet discovery. (IAUC 7869,
MPEC 2002-G30)
The 418th SOHO comet is a member of the Kreutz group.
C/2002 G2 (SOHO) was detected by R. Kracht.
(MPEC 2002-G28
04/02/2002
The 417th SOHO comet not a member of a known group.
C/2002 G1 (SOHO) was detected by R. Kracht.
(MPEC 2002-G13