News - September 2006

2006 September 29

An object, discovered on July 17, 2006, by amateur J. Broughton (Reedy Creek, Australia), which received the minor planet designation 2006 OF₂, has been found to be cometary by C. W. Hergenrother (Catalina). The 17.5^m comet C/2006 OF₂ (Broughton) will pass perihelion on Sep. 15, 2008, at about 2.4 AU. It may then reach 11^m. This is the first amateur comet discovery in 2006. (IAUC 8756, subscription neccessary, MPEC 2006-O13, MPEC 2006-S91)
New Discovery!: R. E. Hill reports his discovery of two new comets on Sep. 28, 2006, in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey. Both comets were confirmed after posting on the NEO Confirmation Page. The 18.5^m comet C/2006 S5 (Hill) will - according to the first orbit with the help of prediscovery observations by NEAT of Sep. 14 - pass perihelion on Dec. 24, 2007, at about 2.5 AU. It may then reach 13. The 18.5^m comet P/2006 S6 (Hill) will pass perihelion on Oct. 18, 2006, at about 2.4 AU (prediscovery observations by Catalina of Aug. 29, and Sep. 18, and by LINEAR of Sep. 18). The period is about 8.5 years. These are Catalina's 34^th and 35^th comet discoveries. (IAUC 8755, subscription neccessary, MPEC 2006-S84, MPEC 2006-S85)

2006 September 23

New Discovery!: E. J. Christensen reports his discovery of a new comet on Sep. 22, 2006, in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page M. Tichy and J. Ticha (Klet) and P. Birtwhistle (Great Shefford) were able to confirm the cometary nature of the 17^m object. According to the first and preliminary orbit comet C/2006 S4 (Christensen) will pass perihelion on Apr. 26, 2007, at about 2.9 AU. This is Catalina's 33^rd and Christensen's 13^th comet discovery. (IAUC 8753, subscription neccessary, MPEC 2006-S53)

2006 September 21

New Discovery!: B. Skiff reported the discovery of a new comet on Sep. 19, 2006, in the course of the LONEOS survey. Numerous observers confirmed the cometary nature after it was posted on the NEO Confirmation Page, including E. J. Christensen (Catalina, prediscovery of Sep 17), P. Birtwhistle (Great Shefford) J. Young (Table Mountain) and R. Miles (Stourton Caundle). The extremely uncertain orbit for the 19.5^m comet C/2006 S3 (LONEOS) shows perihelion on Dec. 28, 2011, at about 4.1 AU. However, post-perihelic orbits with low inclination are also possible. This is the 39^th comet discovery by LONEOS. (IAUC 8752, subscription neccessary, MPEC 2006-S38)

2006 September 19

New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object, discovered on Sep. 17, 2006, in the course of the LINEAR survey has been found to be a comet after it was placed on the NEO Confirmation Page by J. Young (Table Mountain). The 18.5^m comet C/2006 S2 (LINEAR) will pass perihelion according to the first and preliminary orbit on May 11, 2007, at about 3.1 AU. This is the 168^th comet for the LINEAR survey. (IAUC 8750, subscription neccessary, MPEC 2006-S26)

2006 September 17

New Discovery!: E. J. Christensen reports his discovery of a new comet on Sep. 16, 2006, in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page numeours observers were able to confirm the cometary nature of the 17^m object (image by G. Sostero and E. Guido (Remanzacco)), image by J. Lacruz (La Canada)). According to the first and preliminary orbit comet P/2006 S1 (Christensen) already passed perihelion on Aug. 27, 2006, at about 1.4 AU. The period is about 6.7 years. This is Catalina's 32^nd and Christensen's 12^th comet discovery. (IAUC 8749, subscription neccessary, MPEC 2006-S07)

2006 September 15

New Discovery!: E. J. Christensen reports his discovery of a new comet on Sep. 14, 2006, in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page several observers, including R. H. McNaught (Siding Spring), C. Jacques and E. Pimentel (Belo Horizonte) and J. E. McGaha (Tucson) were able to confirm the cometary nature of the 17^m object. According to the first and preliminary orbit (with prediscovery data by LONEOS of Aug. 30, 2006) for comet P/2006 R2 (Christensen) the perihelion was passed already on June 30, 2006, at about 3.0 AU. The period is about 8.4 years. This is Catalina's 31^st and Christensen's 11^th comet discovery. (IAUC 8748, subscription neccessary, MPEC 2006-R52)

2006 September 11

With additional astrometry from Hibiscus Observatory the orbit of comet C/2006 R1 (Siding Spring) turned out to be of short period. With a period of 16 years (with still some uncertainty) it would be the shortest period for a retrograde comet. (MPEC 2006-R41)

2006 September 3

New Discovery!: R. H. McNaught reports the discovery of a new comet (at first taken as asteroidal) on images taken by D. M. Burton on Sep. 1, 2006, in the course of the Siding Spring Survey. The first and preliminary orbit for the 18^m comet C/2006 R1 (Siding Spring) indicates perihelion on Sep. 3, 2006, at about 1.7 AU. This is the 29^th comet for the Siding Spring Survey. (IAUC 8744, subscription neccessary, MPEC 2006-R08)