News - June 2005

2005 June 30

New Discovery!: K. J. Lawrence (JPL) reports the discovery of a new comet by the NEAT survey on June 28, 2005. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page J. E. McGaha (Tucson) and J. Young (Table Mountain) were able to confirm the cometary nature of the 18^m object. The MPC was then able to identify it with observations by Catalina of May 12, by LONEOS of May 13, and by NEAT of June 21, 2005. The first two detections led to the designation 2005 JD₁₀₈ on MPS 132975. The orbit for the comet P/2005 JD₁₀₈ (Catalina-NEAT) shows perihelion on Aug. 01, 2005, at about 4.0 AU. The period is about 16.5 years. This is Catalinas 20^th and NEATs 48^th comet discovery. (IAUC 8554, subscription required, MPEC 2005-M65)
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory has announced the 2005 Edgar Wilson Award for the discovery of comets. It is being divided among: Roy A. Tucker (Tucson, AZ, USA) for the discovery of C/2004 Q1 (Tucker) and Don E. Machholz, Jr.(Colfax, CA, USA) for the discovery of C/2004 Q2 (Machholz). (IAUC 8554, subscription required)

2005 June 25

Terry Lovejoy (Australia) reports that survey images by himself show comet P/2005 JQ₅ (Catalina) as large as 20', very diffuse and as bright as about 8 - 9^m. Images by Michael Jäger and Gerald Rhemann (Austria) of June 24, show the comet as large as 8' and not brighter than about 11.5^m. Visual observations under dark skies are strongly encouraged! (pers. comm., Comets Mailing List)
New permanent numberings for three intermediate-periodic comets: 165P/LINEAR (= C/2000 B4), P=76.6 years, 166P/NEAT (= C/2001 T4), P=51.9 years, and 167P/CINEOS (= C/2004 PY₄₂), P=64.8 years.

2005 June 24

Further SOHO Kreutz comets: C/2005 J11 (SOHO) (B. Zhou), C/2005 J12 (SOHO) (T. Hoffman), C/2005 K5 (SOHO) (H. Su), C/2005 K6 (SOHO) (T. Hoffman), C/2005 K7 (SOHO) (H. Su) and C/2005 K8 (SOHO) (K. Battams).
C/2005 K4 (SOHO) (R. Kracht) is the 57^th member of the Meyer group. Official SOHO comets: 965. (MPEC 2005-M39)

2005 June 20

New Discovery!: Eric J. Christensen (Lunar and Planetary Laboratory) reports his discovery of a new comet on June 17, 2005, in the course of the Mt. Lemmon Survey. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page A. C. Gilmore (Mount John University Observatory) was able to confirm the cometary nature of the 19.5^m object. The first and very uncertain orbit for comet C/2005 M1 (Christensen) shows a perihelion in Jan. 2005, at about 2.9 AU. This is the 2^nd comet discovery by the Mt. Lemmon Survey. (IAUC 8547, subscription required, MPEC 2005-M33)

2005 June 18

Further SOHO Kreutz comets: C/2005 J3 (SOHO) (C. Liang), C/2005 J4 (SOHO) (M. Meyer), C/2005 J5 (SOHO) (T. Hoffman), C/2005 J6 (SOHO) (B. Zhou), C/2005 J7 (SOHO) (B. Zhou), C/2005 J8 (SOHO) (H. Su), C/2005 J9 (SOHO) (J. Sachs) and C/2005 J10 (SOHO) (B. Zhou).
C/2005 H9 (SOHO) (B. Zhou) is the 56^th member of the Meyer group. Official SOHO comets: 958. (MPEC 2005-M14, MPEC 2005-M15)

2005 June 17

W. Romanishin (University of Oklahoma) and S. C. Tegler (Northern Arizona University) report cometary activity of the centaur-type minor planet 2004 PY₄₂. C/2004 PY₄₂ (CINEOS) was discovered in the course of the Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Objects Survey on Aug. 10, 2004, as a 19.5^m asteroidal object. Later R. Stoss found prediscovery images of summer 2002 in NEAT images and it was also found in Spacewatch images of summer 2003, always as an asteroidal object. The coma is very faint, R about 21.5^m. The comet passed perihelion already in April 2001, at a distance of 11.8 AU! The period is about 64.8 years. (IAUC 8545, subscription required, MPEC 2004-P48, MPEC 2004-Q30, MPEC 2005-M12)
Z. Sekanina (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) reports that applying a two-parameter version of his comet fragmentation model leads to a fragmentation time of comet C/2005 K2 (LINEAR) on 2005 Apr. 22 +/- 2 days. The fragment has probably a limited lifespan of less than 100 days. The splitting may be responsible for the steep lightcurve but probably not for the flare-up in early June. Searches for the fragment in earlier images are encouraged. (IAUC 8545, subscription required)

2005 June 14

New Discovery!: Eric J. Christensen (Lunar and Planetary Laboratory) reports his discovery of a new comet on June 13, 2005, in the course of the Mt. Lemmon Survey. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page J. E. McGaha (Tucson) was able to confirm the cometary nature of the 19^m object. Pre-Discovery images by Spacewatch of June 03, 08, and 12, were also identified. The first orbit for comet P/2005 L4 (Christensen) shows a perihelion on Aug. 24, 2005, at about 2.4 AU. The period is about 8.3 years. This is the first comet discovery by the Mt. Lemmon Survey. (IAUC 8543, subscription required, MPEC 2005-L65)
Several reports of what appears to be a secondary nucleus of comet C/2005 K2 (LINEAR) have been received by D. Strange (England), M. Jäger and G. Rhemann (Austria), G. Sostero and E. Guido (Italy) (also here and J. A. Reyes and S. Pastor (Murcia, Spain). Their images, taken between June 12, and 14, 2005, show a secondary fainter nuclear condensation. This apparent splitting may be the cause of the large increase in brightness from 13^m to 9^m during the last fortnight. (pers. comm., Comets Mailing List, IAUC 8543, subscription required)

2005 June 08

New Discovery!: Rik Hill reported his discovery of a new comet on June 7, 2005, in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey. This was confirmed by C. W. Hergenrother (Lunar and Planetary Laboratory) on images taken with the University of Arizona 1.54-m Kuiper telescope. The MPC was then able to link this comet to the apparently asteroidal object 2005 JY₁₂₆, which was also found by Catalina on May 12, 2005. Further prediscovery images of April 17, 2005 (Catalina) and May 09, 2005, (Spacewatch) were also found. The orbit for the 17.5^m comet P/2005 JY₁₂₆ (Catalina) indicates a perihelion on Feb. 21, 2006, at about 2.1 AU. The period is about 7.3 years. This is the 19^th comet discovery by Catalina. (IAUC 8537, subscription required, MPEC 2005-L36)

2005 June 05

New Discovery!: R. H. McNaught (Siding Spring) reports another discovery of a new comet in the course of the Siding Spring Survey on June 03, 2005. The first orbit for the 18^m comet C/2005 L3 (McNaught) shows a perihelion at about 5.3 AU in early 2008! This is the 11th comet discovery by the Siding Spring Survey and Rob McNaught's 20^th credited comet discovery. (CBET 165 subscription required, MPEC 2005-L17)

2005 June 03

New Discovery!: R. H. McNaught (Siding Spring) reports his discovery of a new comet in the course of the Siding Spring Survey on June 02, 2005. The first orbit for the 18.5^m comet C/2005 L2 (McNaught) shows a perihelion at about 3.1 AU in September 2005. This is the 10th comet discovery by the Siding Spring Survey and Rob McNaught's 19^th credited comet discovery and he ranks now on number five in the (credited) discovery ranking for comets. (CBET 163 subscription required, MPEC 2005-L09)
New Discovery!: R. H. McNaught (Siding Spring) reports his discovery of a new comet in the course of the Siding Spring Survey on June 02, 2005. After posting the 16.5^m object on the NEO Confirmation Page S. Foglia (Osservatorio Astronomico di Suno) was able to confirm the cometary nature. Prediscovery images by LINEAR of May 16, and by NEAT of June 02, were also found. The orbit for comet P/2005 L1 (McNaught) shows a perihelion at about 3.1 AU in early December 2005. The period is about 8 years. This is the 9th comet discovery by the Siding Spring Survey and Rob McNaught's 18^th credited comet discovery. (CBET 162 subscription required, MPEC 2005-L08)

2005 June 02

New Discovery!: R. H. McNaught (Siding Spring) reports his discovery of a new comet in the course of the Siding Spring Survey on May 20, 2005. The first and preliminary orbit for the 17^m comet P/2005 K3 (McNaught) shows a perihelion at about 1.4 AU in August 2005. The period is about 4.3 years. This is the 8th comet discovery by the Siding Spring Survey and Rob McNaught's 17^th credited comet discovery. (CBET 161 subscription required, MPEC 2005-L03)