News - July 2003

07/23/2003

Several orbit calculators have pointed out that S. F. Hönigs orbital solution for comet C/2003 O1 is still more probable, now with a perihelion at about 7.0 AU in November 2003. The MPC solution shows higher residuals. (Comets Mailing List)
The first MPC orbit for comet C/2003 O1 based on 84 observations shows a perihelion in April 2005, at about 4.7 AU. The comet may reach 14^m in 2005. (MPEC 2003-O15)

07/22/2003

A preliminary first orbit for comet 2003 O1 was calculated by S. F. Hönig. According to it the comet has a perihelion at about 6.9 AU which was already reached in January 2003. (Comets Mailing List)

07/20/2003

New Discovery!: The CBET 32 contains preliminary information about a new comet found by the LINEAR survey on July 19, 2003. The 17.5^m object was initially reported as asteroidal but later found to be cometary by follow-up observers. No orbit for comet 2003 O1 is available yet. A search ephemeris can be generated at the NEO Confirmation Page. This is the 113^th comet discovery by LINEAR. (CBET 32)

07/03/2003

The Edgar Wilson Award for 2003 is divided among the following five individuals as announced by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory: German Comet Section member Sebastian Florian Hönig (Dossenheim, Germany), for C/2002 O4; Tetuo Kudo (Kikuchi, Kumamoto, Japan), and Shigehisa Fujikawa (Mitoyo, Kagawa, Japan), for C/2002 X5; Charles Wilson Juels (Fountain Hills, AZ, U.S.A.), and Paulo Renato Centeno Holvorcem (Campinas, Brazil), for C/2002 Y1. (IAUC 8162)