News - November 2001

11/24/2001

A first orbit for comet C/2001 W2 (BATTERS) shows a perihelion on Dec. 22, 2001, at about 1.1 AU. The comet was estimated visually as bright as 12.7^m by Alan Hale. The comet decreases its elongation to the sun so that it will be observable only until mid-December with almost the same brightness. (IAUC 7760, MPEC 2001-W53)

11/22/2001

New Discovery!: S. Nakano reports the discovery by A. Asami of a new comet in the course of the Bisei Asteroid Tracking Telescope for Rapid Survey program on Nov. 21, 2001. The comet 2001 W1 was confirmed by Tichy (Klet) and Gajdos and Galad (Modra). It is estimated as 11^m by Tichy and may even be brighter visually. No orbit is available yet; search ephemerides can be generated on the NEO Confirmation Page. (IAUC 7758)
Two additional SOHO comets received orbits and designations: C/2001 V1 (SOHO) was detected by T. Scarmato and C/2001 V2 (SOHO) by A. and F. Mimeev. The official SOHO score is now at 371 comets. (IAUC 7759, MPEC 2001-W47)

11/19/2001

New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object, discovered by the LINEAR program on Nov. 17, 2001, showed unusual motion and was therefore placed on the NEO Confirmation Page. Subsequent observations by J. Nomen (Barcelona) and T. Spahr (Mt. Hopkins) showed the object to be a comet. C/2001 W2 (LINEAR) is about 18.5^m and was discovered (according to the preliminary orbital elements) right at the time of perihelion (Nov. 20, 2001) which is situated at about 2.5 AU. This is LINEARs 68^th new comet discovery. (IAUC 7754, MPEC 2001-W27)

11/18/2001

New Discovery!: A cometary object, discovered independently by the NEAT program on Nov. 16, 2001, was identified by G. V. Williams (MPC) with an apparently asteroidal object found on Oct. 13, 2001, by the LINEAR program. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page, P. Kusnirak (Ondrejov) confirmed the cometary nature. Comet P/2001 TU₈₀ (LINEAR-NEAT) is about 17.5^m and will pass perihelion on Dec. 9, 2001, at about 1.9 AU. It is of short-period with a P of about 7.2 years. It will become only slightly brighter in the following weeks. It is LINEARs 67^th and NEATs 18^th new comet discovery. (IAUC 7753, MPEC 2001-W22)

11/15/2001

Another two SOHO comets received orbits and designations. C/1996 V1 (SOHO) is an archival find by X. Leprette. C/2001 U10 (SOHO) was detected by R. Kracht. The SOHO score is now at 369 officially discovered comets. (MPEC 2001-V60)

11/13/2001

Two further SOHO comets received orbits and designations. C/2001 U8 (SOHO) was detected by R. Kracht. C/2001 U9 (SOHO) was one of the brightest SOHO Kreutz comets ever observed and was found by X. Zhou. The SOHO score is now at 367 officially discovered comets. (MPEC 2001-V39) There are now 100 official new comet discoveries in 2001.

11/11/2001

Another SOHO comet received an orbit and a designation. C/2001 U7 (SOHO) was a bright Kreutz comet found by S. Hönig. The SOHO score is now at 365 officially discovered comets. (IAUC 7750, MPEC 2001-V31)

11/07/2001

New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object, discovered by the LINEAR program on Oct. 29, 2001, was posted on the NEO Confirmation Page since it showed unusual motion. Subsequent observations revealed the cometary nature. The 17.5^m comet C/2001 U6 (LINEAR) will pass perihelion in Aug. 2002, at about 4.3 AU. It will become only slightly brighter. This is LINEARs 66^th new comet discovery. (IAUC 7746, MPEC 2001-V27)

11/04/2001

Five more SOHO comets - all members of the Kreutz group - received orbits and designations: C/2001 T7 (SOHO) was detected by M. Oates, C/2001 U2 (SOHO) by X. Leprette, C/2001 U3 (SOHO) and C/2001 U4 (SOHO) by S. Hönig, and C/2001 U5 (SOHO) by M. Boschat. The SOHO score is now at 364 comets. (MPEC 2001-V19)

11/02/2001

Three more SOHO comets received orbits and designations: C/2001 T5 (SOHO) is a non-Kreutz comet found by X. Zhou. C/2001 T6 (SOHO) and C/2001 U1 (SOHO) are Kreutz comets detected by R. Kracht and X. Leprette, respectively. The SOHO score is now at 359 comets. (MPEC 2001-V10)