News - January 2007

2007 January 31

An apparently asteroidal object discovered on Dec. 10, 2006, in the course of the Spacewatch survey and then designated 2006 XG₁₆ (with prediscovery observations from the the Mt. Lemmon survey of Nov. 15, 2006), has been found to be cometary at about 18^m on R-band CCD images by C. W. Hergenrother on Jan. 27, and 28, 2007, taken with the Catalina telescope. Comet P/2006 XG₁₆ (Spacewatch) will pass perihelion on Feb. 09, 2007, at about 2.1 AU. The period is about 6.9 years. This is the 37^th comet for Spacewatch. (CBET 827, subscription required, MPEC 2007-B79)

2007 January 30

Further SOHO comets (all named SOHO):

Designation  Group   Discoverer     Notes
C/2003 C6    Kreutz  R. Kracht
C/2006 W5    Kreutz  R. Kracht
C/2006 W6    Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2006 W7    Kreutz  H. Su
C/2006 V8    Kreutz  T. Hoffman
C/2006 V9    Kreutz  T. Hoffman
C/2006 V10   Kreutz  R. Kracht 
C/2006 X2    Kreutz  R. Kracht

Official SOHO comets: 1228. (MPEC 2007-B75, MPEC 2007-B76)

2007 January 29

New Discovery!: G. J. Garradd reports his discovery of a new comet on Jan. 25, 2007, in the course of the Siding Spring Survey. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page R. Ligustri (Udine) and C. Hergenrother (Catalina) were able to confirm the cometary nature of the 18^m object. According to the first and very preliminary orbit comet C/2007 B3 (Garradd) already passed perihelion on Mar. 26, 2006, at about 4.0 AU. However, short period orbits with later perihelion dates are also possible. This is the 30^th comet for the Siding Spring Survey. (IAUC 8801, subscription required, MPEC 2007-B72)

2007 January 25

New Discovery!: B. A. Skiff reports his discovery of a new comet on Jan. 23, 2007, in the course of the LONEOS survey. According to the first and preliminary orbit the 18.5^m comet C/2007 B2 (Skiff) will pass perihelion on Oct. 11, 2008, at about 2.7 AU. It may then reach 13^m. This is the 40^th comet for LONEOS and the 15^th for Skiff. (IAUC 8799, subscription required, MPEC 2007-B39)

Further SOHO comets (all named SOHO):

Designation  Group   Discoverer     Notes
C/2006 U14   Kreutz  H. Su
C/2006 U15   Kreutz  L. Cane
C/2006 U16   Kreutz  R. Kracht, H. Su, T. Chen
C/2006 V2    Kreutz  J. Sachs
C/2006 V3    Kreutz  H. Su
C/2006 V4    Kreutz  H. Su
C/2006 V5    Kreutz  T. Hoffman
C/2006 V6    Kreutz  H. Su
C/2006 V7    Kreutz  H. Su

Official SOHO comets: 1220. (MPEC 2007-B38, MPEC 2007-B38)

2007 January 21

Neuentdeckung!: E. J. Christensen reports his discovery of a new comet on Jan. 17, 2007, in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page several observers confirmed the cometary nature of the 18.5^m comet, including G. Sostero and L. Donato (Remanzacco), D. Mayes (Table Mountain) and L. Buzzi (Varese). According to the first and preliminary orbit comet P/2007 B1 (Christensen) will pass perihelion on Feb. 08, 2007, at about 2.4 AU. The period is about 13.5 years. This is the 43^rd comet for Catalina and the 18^th for Christensen. (IAUC 8797, subscription required, MPEC 2007-B25)

2007 January 15

F. Fratev, E. Mihaylova, and A. Kirchev (Zvezdno Obshtestvo Observatory, Plana) report the recovery of comet P/2001 Q2 on Jan. 11, and 13, 2007. Further positions were obtained by L. Buzzi and F. Luppi (Varese), W. Hasubick (Buchloe), and K. Kadota (Ageo). The 16^m comet P/2007 A3 (Petriew) will pass perihelion on Feb. 24, 2007, at about 0.9 AU. This apparition is a poor one with the comet in conjunction with the sun. (IAUC 8795, subscription required, IAUC 8796, subscription required)
With pre-discovery observations by Spacewatch of Nov. 10, 2006, comet 2006 Y2 has been found to be of short period. Comet P/2006 Y2 (Gibbs) passed perihelion on Dec. 28, 2006, at about 1.3 AU. The period is about 5.3 years. (IAUC 8796, subscription required, MPEC 2007-A52)

2007 January 13

New Discovery!: E. J. Christensen reports his discovery of a new comet on Jan. 10, 2007, in the course of the Mt. Lemmon Survey. After the first announcement this comet could be linked to a Mt. Lemmon discovery of Nov. 24, and 26, 2006, designated as 2006 WY₁₈₂. The 19.5^m comet P/2007 A2 (Christensen) will pass perihelion on Jan. 17, 2007, at about 2.8 AU. The period is about 16 years. This is the 9^th comet for the Mt. Lemmon Survey and the 17^th for Christensen. (IAUC 8794, subscription required, MPEC 2007-A46, MPEC 2007-A47)

2007 January 11

Rediscovery!: Periodic comet P/1986 W1 (= 1986 XIII = 1986p) has been accidentally rediscovered in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey on Jan. 9, 2007, by R. A. Kowalski and later confirmed by E. J. Christensen (Mt. Lemmon). After posting the 17^m comet on the NEO Confirmation Page, additional confirmations were received from G. Hug, B. Twarog, and D. Tibbets (Eskridge) and by J. E. McGaha (Tucson). The correction to the prediction by S. Nakano is Delta(T) = +18.6 days. Comet P/2007 A1 (Lovas) passed perihelion on Dec. 12, 2006, at about 1.4 AU. (IAUC 8791, subscription required, (IAUC 8792, subscription required)

2007 January 10

New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object, discovered on Dec. 09, 2006, in the course of the LINEAR survey, and rediscovered by LINEAR on Jan. 08, 2007, has been found to be cometary after it was placed on the NEO Confirmation Page by numerous observers, including D. Healy (Sierra Vista), E. Cortes (Mataro), J. E. McGaha (Tucson), E. Guido and G. Sostero (Castellammare di Stabia, remotely near Mayhill), and J. Young (Table Mountain). The 17^m comet C/2006 XA1 (LINEAR) will pass perihelion on Jul. 20, 2007, at about 1.8 AU. This is the 173^rd comet for the LINEAR survey. (IAUC 8790, subscription required, MPEC 2007-A34)