News - May 2003

05/31/2003

New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object found on May 28, 2003, by the LINEAR survey was found to be cometary by J. Young (Table Mountain) and J. McGaha (Tucson) after posting on the NEO Confirmation Page. The first orbit for the 16.5^m comet C/2003 K4 (LINEAR) shows a perihelion at about 8.5 AU on Sep. 11, 2003. This is the fourth-largest perihelion distance of a known comet. This is LINEARs 109^th comet discovery. (IAUC 8139, MPEC 2003-K52)
New Discovery!: Another apparently asteroidal object, found on May 23, 2003, by the of the LINEAR survey and announced on MPEC 2003-K27 as 2003 KV₂ was found to be cometary by C. Brinkworth and M. Burleigh (La Palma). The orbit for the 17.5^m comet P/2003 KV₂ (LINEAR) shows a perihelion at about 1.1 AU on July 10, 2003. The period is about 4.8 years - the third shortest on record for an existing comet. The comet approached Jupiter in Jan. 2001, at about 0.55 AU, before which the perihelion distance was somewhat larger. This is LINEARs 110^th comet discovery. (IAUC 8139, MPEC 2003-K53, MPEC 2003-K27, MPEC 2003-K53, MPEC 2003-K53)

05/30/2003

It is probable that the new comet C/2003 K2 is identical with an unconfirmed object found in mid-April by X.-M. Zhou in images of the SWAN instrument aboard the SOHO spacecraft. Several attempts to confirm the object visually in the last week of April failed.
It has also been noted that the comet might be of short period. (IAUC 8138)

05/29/2003

A very faint non-group comet was detected by H. Otterstedt in C3 images of the SOHO spacecraft. An orbit is given in MPEC 2003-K46. It is unclear if comet C/2003 K3 (SOHO) can be observed from Earth when reaching greater elongations. It will becoming fainter fast and moves into the southern skies. This is SOHOs 559^th comet discovery. About 60 additional SOHO comets are still waiting for measurement and orbital calculations. (MPEC 2003-K47)

05/27/2003

New Discovery!: Eric Christensen (LPL) reports the discovery of a new comet in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey on May 26, 2003. Numerous observers confirmed the cometary nature of the 14^m object after posting on the NEO Confirmation Page. The first and very preliminary orbit (2d arc) for comet C/2003 K2 shows a perihelion already in April 2003, at about 0.7 AU. The comet was in conjunction with the sun when at its brightest. This is the 9^th comet discovery of the Catalina Sky Survey. (IAUC 8136, MPEC 2003-K43)

05/25/2003

New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object discovered by the Spacewatch survey on May 23, 2003, was found to be cometary after posting on the NEO Confirmation Page. A. Lopez and R. Pacheco (Mallorca), A. E. Gleason (Spacewatch II, Kitt Peak) and J. A. Larson (Spacewatch I) noted the cometary appearance of the 18^m object. A very preliminary orbit (2d arc) for comet C/2003 K1 (Spacewatch) shows a perihelion already in January 2003, at about 2.3 AU. This is the 20^th comet discovery of the Spacewatch survey. (IAUC 8135, MPEC 2003-K37)
Orbit refinements for comet P/2003 H4 ruled out a possible identity with D/1886 K1. The comet approached Jupiter as close as 0.07 AU in 1929, before which q and P were larger. The comet has now been named P/2003 H4 (LINEAR). (IAUC 8135, MPEC 2003-K34)

05/18/2003

New Discovery!: K. J. Lawrence (JPL) has reported the discovery of a new comet in the course of the NEAT survey on May 13, 2003. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page several observers confirmed the cometary nature of the 17^m object. A first and very preliminary orbit (3d arc) for comet C/2003 J1 (NEAT) shows a perihelion at about 5.2 AU on Sep. 11, 2003. This is NEATs 34^th comet discovery. (IAUC 8133, MPEC 2003-K15)

05/10/2003

A revised orbit for comet C/2003 H3 (NEAT) is quite different compared to the first solution. The comet has now already passed perihelion in April 2003, at about 2.9 AU. The comet will thus not become brighter. (MPEC 2003-J32)
A call for observations of comet C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang) was issued by K. Dennerl (Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Garching, Germany): "On 2002 April 15, from 1:54 to 05:09 UT, comet C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang) was observed with the X-ray satellite Chandra. For a comparison with the X-ray image, optical images taken during this period or a few hours afterwards would be very valuable. If you know of such an image, please contact kod@mpe.mpg.de"
The International Comet Quarterly (ICQ) has initiated a special comet observing project for CCD observers during June 2003, until March 2004. Details can be found on the given ICQ homepage.

05/04/2003

Comet P/2000 QD₁₈₁ = 2000 XV₄₃ = 1986 R1 = 1993 WU (Russell-LINEAR) received the permanent designation 156P/Russell-LINEAR. (IAUC 8128, MPC 48317)

05/03/2003

New Discovery!: M. Bezpalko (Lincoln Lab., MIT) reports the discovery of a new comet in the course of the LINEAR survey on Apr. 29. After posting the object on the NEO Confirmation Page the 17.5^m comet was confirmed by several observers. A first and very preliminary orbit for comet P/2003 H4 shows a perihelion at about 1.7 AU on May 13, 2003. The period is about 5.8 years. The comet approached Jupiter in Aug. 2000, at about 0.4 AU. This is LINEARs 108^th comet discovery. (IAUC 8127, MPEC 2003-J14)

05/01/2003

New Discovery!: On Apr. 30, 2003, S. H. Pravdo (JPL) reported the discovery of a new comet in the course of the NEAT survey. After posting on the NEO Confirmation Page several observers confirmed the cometary nature of the 15.5^m object. A first and very preliminary orbit for comet C/2003 H3 (NEAT) shows a perihelion at about 1.75 AU on Oct. 27, 2003. The comet may reach 12^m or brighter in autumn. This is NEATs 33^rd comet discovery. (IAUC 8126, MPEC 2003-J02)