News - April 2003

04/25/2003

New Discoveries!: Two apparently asteroidal objects, both discovered on Apr. 24, 2003, by the LINEAR survey, were found to be cometary by follow-up observers after posting on the NEO Confirmation Page. First and very preliminary orbits were published today. The 16^m comet C/2003 H1 (LINEAR) will pass perihelion in early March 2004, at about 2.9 AU. The comet may reach 12^m or brighter in spring 2004.
Comet C/2003 H2 (LINEAR) is about 18^m and will pass perihelion on May 04, 2003, at about 2.3 AU. LINEAR has now found 107 comets. (IAUC 8122, MPEC 2003-H28, MPEC 2003-H29)

04/20/2003

New Discovery!: R. H. McNaught has reported observations of a comet found by K. S. Russell on plates taken with the U.K. Schmidt Telescope in early September 1986. Attempts to locate the comet by Russell and McNaught in images of 1986 Sep. 25, were unsuccessful. T. B. Spahr was now successful in linking this object with an asteroidal discovery by the LINEAR survey - 2000 QD₁₈₁ - observed on 2000 Aug. 31, and Sep. 05 (MPS 18353). Furthermore he was able to link it with another LINEAR discovery - 2000 XV₄₃ - observed from Nov. 2000 - Jan. 2001 (MPO 9348, MPS 23109 and 25364) as well as with 1993 WU, discovered by C. S. Shoemaker et al. with the 0.46-m Palomar Schmidt telescope on 1993 Nov. 19 and 20 (MPS 397). With the knowledge of the cometary orbit R. H. McNaught and M. A. Read were now able to locate the object on the 1986 Sep. 25, plates. The comet P/1986 R1 (Russell-LINEAR) has a perihelion distance of about 1.6 AU and a period of about 6.8 years. Orbital elements for the epochs 1986 Nov. 26.0, 1993 Oct. 20.0, and 2000 Aug. 4.0, are given in IAUC 8118. This is LINEARs 105^th comet discovery. (IAUC 8118,)

04/12/2003

One SOHO comet received an orbit and a designation: C/2003 G3 (SOHO) was found by J. Sachs and is not a member of any known comet group. SOHO has now found 558 comets. (MPEC 2003-G63)

04/11/2003

New Discovery!: Also on Apr. 08, the LINEAR survey reported a cometary object which was then placed on the NEO Confirmation Page. Several CCD observers confirmed the cometary appearance of this object. The first and preliminary orbit for the 16.5^m comet C/2003 G2 (LINEAR) shows a perihelion on Apr. 29, 2003, at about 1.6 AU. This is LINEARs 104^th comet discovery. (IAUC 8116, MPEC 2003-G62)

04/10/2003

New Discovery!: On Apr. 08, the LINEAR survey reported an apparently asteroidal object which was then placed on the NEO Confirmation Page. Several CCD observers noted the cometary appearance of this object. The first and preliminary orbit for the 15^m comet C/2003 G1 (LINEAR) shows a perihelion on Feb. 07, 2003, at about 4.9 AU. This is LINEARs 103^rd comet discovery. (IAUC 8115, MPEC 2003-G56)

04/08/2003

One SOHO comet received an orbit and a designation: C/2002 W8 (SOHO) was found by K. Cernis (the MPEC gives the wrong discoverers name) and is a member of the Kreutz group. SOHO has now found 557 comets. (MPEC 2003-G32)

04/04/2003

A revised orbit for comet C/2003 F1 (LINEAR) shows that this comet is of intermediate period with a P of about 96 years. Perihelion will be reached in July 2003 at about 4 AU. (MPEC 2003-G14)
An interesting asteroidal object was found on Kitt Peak Observatory. A/2003 CC₂₂ has a period of about 20.5 years and a perihelion distance of about 4.2 AU. The object is very faint (about 22^m) and has shown no signs of cometary activity. (MPEC 2003-G16)

04/02/2003

Two SOHO comets received orbits and designations: C/2002 W6 (SOHO) was found by R. Matson and C/2002 W7 (SOHO) by D. Evans. Both comets are members of the Kreutz group. SOHO has now found 556 comets. (MPEC 2003-G07)
New Discovery!: On Mar. 27, 2003, the NEAT survey reported the discovery of an apparently asteroidal object whhich was placed on the NEO Confirmation Page. Follow-up observations by G. Masi as well as by M. Tichy and M. Kocer showed this object to be cometary. The first and preliminary orbit for the 19.5^m comet P/2003 F2 (NEAT) shows a perihelion on Apr. 24, 2003, at about 2.9 AU. The comet is of short period with a P of about 16 years. This is NEATs 32^nd comet discovery. (IAUC 8104, MPEC 2003-G04)