News - June 2007

2007 June 24

Recovery!: Comet P/1998 S1 has been recovered independently by R. H. McNaught (Siding Spring) on May 13, and by J. V. Scotti (Spacewatch, Kitt Peak) on June 26, 2007. The correction to the prediction by S. Nakano (2007 Comet Handbook) was dT = +0.013 day. The 18^m comet P/2007 J7 (LINEAR-Mueller) will pass perihelion on Dec. 16, 2007, at about 2.6 AU. (IAUC 8853, subscription required)

2007 June 24

New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object, discovered on June 20, 2007, in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey has been found to be cometary after posting on the NEO Confirmation by J. Young (Table Mountain). The first and very preliminary orbit for the 19^m comet C/2007 M2 (Catalina) indicates perihelion on Nov. 28, 2008, at about 3.0 AU. This is the 48^th comet for the Catalina Sky Survey. (IAUC 8852, subscription required, MPEC 2007-M30)
New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object, discovered on June 21, 2007, in the course of the LINEAR survey has been found to be cometary after posting on the NEO Confirmation Page by L. Donato, E. Guido, and G. Sostero (Remanzacco and remotely from Mayhill) and J. Young (Table Mountain). The 16^m comet C/2007 M3 (LINEAR) will pass perihelion according to the first and preliminary orbit on Sep. 23, 2007, at about 3.4 AU. This is the 178^th comet for LINEAR. (IAUC 8852, subscription required, MPEC 2007-M31)

2007 June 18

New Discovery!: R. H. McNaught reports his discovery of a new comet on June 16, 2007, in the course of the Siding Spring Survey. After posting the object on the NEO Confirmation J. Young (Table Mountain) and J. E. McGaha (Tucson) were able to confirm the cometary nature of the 19^m object. The first and very preliminary orbit for comet C/2007 M1 (McNaught) shows perihelion on Mar. 24, 2009, at about 6.4 AU. This is the 36^th comet for the Siding Spring Survey and the 35^th for McNaught. (IAUC 8849, subscription required, MPEC 2007-M09)

2007 June 5

Further SOHO comets (all named SOHO):

Designation  Group   Discoverer     Notes
C/2004 A4    Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2004 B11   Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2005 B5    Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2005 B6    Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2006 A8    Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2007 J5    Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2007 J6    Kreutz  B. Zhou

Official SOHO comets: 1297. (MPEC 2007-L16)

2007 June 2

Further SOHO comets (all named SOHO):

Designation  Group   Discoverer     Notes
C/2007 H6    Kreutz  V. Bezugly
C/2007 H7    Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2007 H8    Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2007 H9    Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2007 J1    Meyer   R. Kracht      77^th member of the Meyer group
C/2007 J2    Kreutz  B. Zhou
C/2007 J3    Kreutz  T. Hoffman
C/2007 J4    Kreutz  T. Hoffman

Official SOHO comets: 1290. (MPEC 2007-L02, MPEC 2007-L03)