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 18m 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 20th and NEATs
48th 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 - 9m. Images by Michael Jäger and Gerald Rhemann
(Austria) of June 24, show the comet as large as 8' and not brighter than about 11.5m.
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 57th 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 19.5m 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 2nd 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 56th 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 19.5m 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 21.5m. 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 19m 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 13m to 9m 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 17.5m 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 19th 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 18m 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 20th 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 18.5m 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 19th 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 16.5m 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 18th 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 17m
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 17th credited comet discovery.
(CBET 161 subscription required,
MPEC 2005-L03)