News - November 2003

2003 Nov 29

Reiner Stoss was able to detect P/2001 RG₁₀₀ (LINEAR) in DSS images of 1990, and 1993, and NEAT images of 2001. (MPEC 2003-W74)
New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object discovered already on Sep 12, 2001, by the LINEAR survey and then received the designation 2001 RG₁₀₀ was found by A. E. Gleason (Kitt Peak) to be cometary in images of Nov. 26, 2003. J. Young (Table Mountain Observatory) also confirmed the cometary nature of the object. The comet P/2001 RG₁₀₀ (LINEAR) passed perihelion at about 4.6 AU in July 2002. The comet has a period of about 10.3 years. This is the 128^th comet discovery by LINEAR. (IAUC 8244)

2003 Nov 24

An apparently asteroidal object discovered on Nov 19, 2003, by the LINEAR survey moves on a cometary orbit. The 17-18^m object 2003 WT₄₂ will pass perihelion not before April 2006, at about 5.2 AU. The first orbit indicates a period of more than 13000 years. It is possible that cometary activity will be detected in the coming years and further monitoring is strongly recommended. (MPEC 2003-W48)

2003 Nov 18

New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object discovered on June 05, 2002, by the LINEAR survey which showed no unusual motion and received the designation 2002 LZ₁₁ was found by E. Christensen (University of Arizona) to be cometary in images of Nov. 17, 2003. J. Young (Table Mountain Observatory) also confirmed the cometary nature of the object. The now 17^m comet P/2002 LZ₁₁ (LINEAR) passed perihelion at about 2.4 AU in March 2003. The comet has a period of about 7 years. This is the 127^th comet discovery by LINEAR. (IAUC 8240)

2003 Nov 17

New Discovery!: On Nov. 16, 2003, the LINEAR survey reported an apparently asteroidal object, which was posted on the NEO Confirmation Page. Several follow-up observers, including J. Young (Table Mountain), R. Fredrick and R. Trentman (Louisburg), J. E. Rogers (Camarillo), and J. Lacruz (Madrid), were able to detect the cometary nature of the 17.5^m object. The first and preliminary orbit for comet C/2003 W1 (LINEAR) shows a perihelion at about 1.7 AU on November 14, 2003. This is the 126^th comet discovery by LINEAR. (IAUC 8239, MPEC 2003-W04)

2003 Nov 7

New Discovery!: On Nov. 04, 2003, the LINEAR survey found a new comet, reported by A. Milner (Lincoln Laboratory, MIT), which was posted on the NEO Confirmation Page. Several follow-up observers, including A. Knöfel (Essen), J. Young (Table Mtn.), P. R. Holvorcem and M. Schwartz (Nogales) and J. E. McGaha (Tucson), were able to confirm the cometary nature of the 16^m object. One of the confirmation images by A. Knöfel can be found on A/CC's news page for Nov 06. The orbit for comet C/2003 V1 (LINEAR) shows a perihelion at about 1.5 AU already in April 2003, but then close to the sun. This is the 125^th comet discovery by LINEAR. (IAUC 8236, MPEC 2003-V28)