BAA Comet Section : Comets discovered in 2014
Updated 2022 June 8
When observing a comet please try to forget how bright you think the comet
should be, what it was when you last viewed it, what other observers think
it is or what the ephemeris says it should be.
The equations for the light curves of comets that are currently visible
use only the raw observations and should give a reasonable prediction for
the current brightness. If the comet has not yet been observed or has
gone from view a correction for aperture is included, so that telescopic
observers should expect the comet to be fainter than given by the equation.
The correction is about 0.033 per centimetre. Values for the r parameter
given in square brackets [ ] are assumed. The form of the light curve is
either the standard m = H0 + 5 log d + K0 log r or the linear brightening
m = H0 + 5 log d + L0 abs(t - T + D0) where T is the date of perihelion,
t the present and D0 an offset, if L0 is +ve the comet brightens towards
perihelion and if D0 is +ve the comet is brightest prior to perihelion.
Observations of new comets in 2014 are given in ICQ format.
Full details of recently discovered objects will not appear until they are
available on the CBAT web pages. The actual accuracy of preliminary orbits is often
(nearly always) much worse than the published
accuracy implies. In part this is because
each orbital solution is treated as a mathematical construct and does not take account of observational
error. JPL does publish the errors, whereas the MPECs do not.
SOHO comets
A SOHO C2 comet discovered by Zhijian Xu on May 17 may be linked with 2008 Y12, with previous (unobserved) returns
on
1998 February 16 and 2003 July 23.
2014 A1 (296P/Garradd)
2007 H3 (P/Garradd) was recovered by an observing team at the Pierre Auger Observatory, Malargue using
the 0.3m f/10 reflector on January 6.31. Following recovery prediscovery NEAT images from 2001 June
were identified. The comet was close to the predicted time of return.
2014 A2 (P/Hill)
Rik Hill, a BAA Member, discovered a 19th magnitude comet during the Catalina Sky Survey with the 0.68m Schmidt on
January 9.43. Prediscovery images from 2013 November were found in Mt Lemmon Survey data. [MPEC 2014-B01, 2014 January 16]
The comet was at perihelion at 2.1 au in 2013 October and has a period of around 14 years.
This was Rik's 25th comet discovery and puts him at 5th on the all-time list of personal
comet discoverers.
2014 A3 (P/PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on January 9.51.
[MPEC 2014-B02, 2014 January 16] The comet was at perihelion at 3.6 au in 2013 April and has a period of around
10 years.
2014 A4 (SONEAR)
An 18th magnitude object was discovered by Cristovao Jacques, Eduardo Pimentel and Joao Ribeiro de Barros
with the 0.46m telescope (the MPEC says 0.3m) at the Southern Observatory for
Near Earth Research at Oliveira, Brazil on January 12.03. It was noted as cometary
by other astrometrists. [MPEC 2014-B03, 2014 January 16]
The comet has perihelion at 4.2 au in 2015 September.
Cristovao Jacques provides the following discovery information:
The Southern Observatory for Near Earth Asteroids Research (SONEAR) is located in Oliveira, a city 120
km from Belo Horizonte, that is the third largest in Brazil. The sky is pretty good,
although we have a 1200mm annual rainfall.
We began our
operations in 2013 July with a 12" Schmidt Cassegrain, got the Y00 code and in late
October our main instrument was ready to begin operation and adjustments. Now we
use a 18" f/2.9 telescope reflector completely made in Brazil. The mount is a
Paramount MEII with a FLI microline 16803 CCD. This system yields a 1.64 x 1.64
degree field, plate scale of 1.44 "/pixel, with 8 seconds downloads.
Our observatory is a Roll Off 6 x 4 meters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVJPlM8TG5E
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0RSOJNfVN8
You can see a picture of our telescope at: http://www.observatorio-
phoenix.org/t_proj/Sonear/ sonear.htm . I am still not satisfied with the
telescope performance because we are struggling with collimation and other small issues.
For detection, we use Paulo Holvorcem´s software called Skysift. We are now tuning
the parameters, so we can better detect objects. If someone is interested in this
software you can contact him at holvorcem@.... For planning the night we use other
Holvorcem´s software called TAO . http://sites.mpc.com.br/holvorcem/tao/readme.html
.
For telescope and CCD control we use ACP and Maxim.
December and January are the rainy season months in Brazil, but this year has been
atypical, so we had 12 clear nights in a row. 2014 A4 was discovered on the night
of January 12th, as we were surveying the region between R.A 5 and 6 hours, and declination
-40 and -50. As the beginning of the survey was centralized in dec -40, half of the
field was above this declination, so we spotted the object in declination -39.6 in a
matter of luck. Since December 18th, we have been sending a Sky Coverage report to
MPC. http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/SkyCoverage.html
I analysed the images 12 hours after the end of the night. The object was apparently
asteroidal. On the next day, Ernesto Guido emailed me saying that he imaged the object
in Australia and it was a little bit elongated. One day more, he confirmed the comet
nature using Faulkes South.
2014 A5 (PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on January 4.41.
It was not confirmed until observations were made with the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii telescope on January 26.
[MPEC 2014-B54, 2014 January 27] The comet is at perihelion at 4.8 au in 2014 August.
2014 AA52 (Catalina)
A 20th magnitude asteroid was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on January 11.39.
[MPEC 2014-A87, 2014 January 15]
The object had a retrograde orbit with a period of around 50
years and perihelion at 1.8 au in 2015 March. It was classed as a Centaur.
On February 26 it was reclassified as a comet following the detection of cometary activity. The latest
orbit is hyperbolic with perihelion at 2.0 au in 2015 February.
2014 B1 (Schwartz)
Michael Schwartz discovered a 20th magnitude comet in images taken with the Tenagra II
0.41-m f3.75 astrograph on January 28.10. [MPEC 2014-C03, 2014 February 1] The comet is
at perihelion at 9.6 in 2017 September.
2014 C1 (P/TOTAS)
The Teide Observatory Tenerife Asteroid Survey discovered a 19th magnitude comet with the
1.0m f4.4 reflector on February 1.24. [MPEC 2014-C10, 2014 February 4] The comet was at
perihelion at 1.7 au in 2013 December and has a period of around 5.4 years.
2014 C2 (STEREO)
Alan Watson reported a fast moving object in
MPEC 2014-C25 reported an orbit for the object on February 8. The comet was at perihelion at 0.5 au
on February 18. Man-To Hui notes that the comet was at nearly 180° phase angle
from the perspective of the spacecraft at discovery and would have shown strong
forward scattering. Hidetaka Sato was able to image the comet from the ground with the iTelescope at
New Mexico on February 19, when he estimated it at 15.6, not far from the
ephemeris position.
2014 C3 (NEOWISE)
An 18th magnitude comet was discovered by the WISE spacecraft on February 14.71 in its new guise of NEOWISE. [MPEC 2014-D11, 2014 February 20]
Hirohisa Sato computed an improved a retrograde orbit. The latest
orbit is retrograde, with perihelion at 1.9 au in 2014 January and has a period of over 1000 years.
2014 C4 (298P/Christensen)
Jim Scotti recovered 2007 C1 (P/Christensen) in images taken with the 1.8m Spacewatch II reflector
on February 9.54. The comet returned to perihelion 0.52 days earlier than predicted.
A/2014 CW14 (Mt Lemmon)
A 21st magnitude asteroid was discovered by the Mt Lemmon Survey on February 10.29.
[MPEC 2014-D08, 2014 February 19]
The object has a retrograde orbit with a period of around 90
years and will reach perihelion at 4.2 au in 2014 December. It is classed as a Centaur. Aphelion is at around 35 au.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is -2.12 and it approaches to within 0.5 au of the planet.
2014 D1 (297P/Beshore)
The comet was recovered at the Cordell-Lorenz Observatory with their 0.3m Schmidt-Cassegrain on February 27.40, with
pre-recovery images then found in Mt Lemmon data from January 2. The comet returns to perihelion 0.3 days earlier
than predicted.
2014 D2 (299P/Catalina-PanSTARRS)
An 18th magnitude comet was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in images taken on February 27.31 and by PanSTARRS in
images taken on February 27.43. The comet appeared about a magnitude fainter in the PanSTARRS images. Pre-discovery
images were found in PanSTARRS data from 2013 January, December, 2014 January and February. [MPEC 2014-E50, 2014 March 9].
The comet has a period of 9.1 years with perihelion at 3.1 au in 2015 February.
When the orbit improved the comet was linked to asteroid 2005 EL284 observed by LONEOS and
LINEAR in 2005 March and by the Siding Spring Survey in 2005 July.
A/2014 DD10 (Mt Lemmon)
A 21st magnitude asteroid was discovered by the Mt Lemmon Survey on February 20.47.
[MPEC 2014-D32, 2014 February 24]
The object has an orbit with a period of around 8
years and was at perihelion at 0.5 au in 2013 November. It is classed as an Apollo.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is 2.12 and it approaches to within 0.2 au of the planet.
It approached Venus to about 0.1 au in 2013 October.
A/2014 DB11 (La Sagra)
A 19th magnitude asteroid was discovered by the La Sagra team on February 22.99.
[MPEC 2014-D40, 2014 February 24]
The object has an orbit with a period of around 5
years and will be at perihelion at 1.2 au in 2014 March. It is classed as an Amor.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is 2.93 and it approaches to within 0.4 au of the planet.
2014 E1 (P/Larson)
Steve Larson discovered a 17th magnitude comet during the Catalina Sky Survey with the 0.68m Schmidt on
March 10.45. Prediscovery images from 2014 January were found in CSS data. [MPEC 2014-E78, 2014 March 12]
The comet is at perihelion at 2.1 au in 2014 May and has a period of around 7.1 years.
2014 E2 (Jacques)
Cristovao Jacques discovered a 15th magnitude comet on March 13.06 using the 0.45m telescope
at the Southern Observatory for Near Earth Research at Oliveira, Brazil. [MPEC 2014-E84, 2014 March 14]
The comet reached perihelion at 0.7 au in July. Some observations suggested that it
was already
11th magnitude just after discovery, and it continued to brighten fairly quickly. It was
brightest at around 6th magnitude in July and then faded slowly until September. It
is now fading quite rapidly.
304 visual observations received so far suggest a preliminary uncorrected light curve of m =
7.0 + 5 log d
+ 10.3 log r .
2014 F1 (Hill)
Rik Hill, a BAA Member, discovered a 19th magnitude comet during the Catalina Sky Survey with the 0.68m Schmidt on
March 29.47. [MPEC 2014-G02, 2014 April 1]
The comet was at perihelion at 3.5 au in 2013 October.
2014 F2 (Tenagra)
An asteroidal object discovered at the Tenagra II Observatory by Michael Schwartz and Paulo Holvorcem
with the 0.41m astrograph on March 31.35
was found to show cometary features after posting on the NEOCP. [MPEC 2014-G12, 2014 April 3]. The comet
has an orbit with perihelion at 4.3 au in 2015 January and a period of around 2000 years.
2014 F3 (Sheppard-Trujillo)
Follow up observations by S S Sheppard on May 22/23 of a 23rd magnitude object discovered by Sheppard and C Trujillo
on March 26.33 with the 4.0-m CTIO reflector at Cerro Tololo showed cometary features. [MPEC 2014-K30, 2014 May 23].
The comet has an orbit with a period of around 60 years and perihelion at 5.6 au in 2021.
2014 G1 (PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on April 5.57.
[MPEC 2014-G42, 2014 April 7] The comet was at perihelion at 5.5 au in 2013 December.
This was PanSTARRS 50th comet.
2014 G2 (300P/Catalina)
2005 JQ5 (P/Catalina) was recovered by M. Masek, J. Cerny, J. Ebr,
M. Prouza, P. Kubanek, M. Jelinek, K. Honkova and J. Jurysek at the Pierre Auger Observatory,
Malarque with the 0.3m reflector on April 9.39. [MPEC 2014-G70, 2014 April 10].
The comet returns to perihelion 0.1 days earlier than predicted.
The comet can make close approaches to Venus, Earth and Mars. Its last close approach to Earth was at
the discovery apparition in 2005, when it came to 0.10 au and in 2036 it will approach to 0.06 au.
It will approach within 0.08 au of Mars in 2132 and approached Venus to 0.09 au in 1957.
2014 G3 (PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on April 10.54.
[MPEC 2014-H04, 2014 April 17] The comet is at perihelion at 4.7 au in 2015 February.
2014 H1 (Christensen)
Eric Christensen discovered an 18th magnitude comet on April 24.42 on images taken during the Mt Lemmon Survey with
the 1.5m reflector. [MPEC 2014-H33, 2014 April 25].
The comet was near perihelion at 2.1 au. An improved orbit by Hirohisa Sato suggests
that the orbit is a long period ellipse.
2014 HU195 (Valdes-TOTAS)
On 2016 July 5 M Busch reported a comet found by automatic evaluation software written by himself in four images taken by
the Teide Observatory Tenerife Asteroid Survey (TOTAS) beginning on 2016 July 5.06. Once the object was confirmed by
other astrometrists and a preliminary orbit computed, automatic software written by Gareth Williams linked it to
an object discovered by the Dark Energy Camera on the 4m Blanco telescope at Cerro Tololo on 2014 April 24.35 and
designated 2014 HU195. The comet was at perihelion in 2015 May at 5.12 au and has a period of around 100 years.
[MPEC 2016-P75, CBET 4294, 2016 August 9] The comet was named on MPC 103031 [2017
March 12].
2014 J1 (Catalina)
An 18th magnitude object was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on May 9.36.
[MPEC 2014-K03, 2014 May 16]
The object was found to show cometary features by other observers.
It has a retrograde orbit and perihelion at 1.7 au in 2014 June. It is intrinsically faint.
2014 K1 (301P/LINEAR-NEAT)
2001 BB50 (P/LINEAR-NEAT) was recovered in images from PanSTARRS taken on May 17.28, with earlier
images taken at the SATINO remote observatory, Haute Province on March 1.93.
The comet will return to perihelion 1.76 days earlier than predicted and has a period of 13.7 years.
2014 K2 (302P/Lemmon-PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on April 29.36, was linked
to asteroid 2007 RJ236 discovered during the Mt Lemmon survey on 2007 September 13.30. It was also linked to
observations made by the Purple Mountain Observatory in 2007 August.
[MPEC 2014-K28, 2014 May 23] The comet is at perihelion at 3.3 au in 2016 April and has a period of 8.86 years.
2014 K3 (P/SOHO)
A non-group SOHO comet discovered in C2 images by Zhijian Xu on May 17 was quickly linked to 2008 Y12 by Michal Kusiak
and the orbit confirmed by Reiner Kracht. A linked orbit by Gareth Williams was published on MPEC 2014-K37 on May 24. The comet
has a period of 5.4 years and perihelion 0.07 au.
A/2014 KG2 [NEOWISE]
A 19th magnitude asteroid was discovered by the NEOWISE spacecraft on May 18.54 [MPEC 2014-K22, 2014 May 21]
It is classed as a Centaur, with a period of around 16 years and near perihelion at 1.4 au. The error bars
on the orbital parameters are very large. The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is 2.08.
A/2014 KL4 [PanSTARRS]
A 21st magnitude asteroid was discovered by PanSTARRS on May 17.26 [MPEC 2014-K33, 2014 May 23]
It is classed as a Centaur, with a period of around 50 years and not far past perihelion at 1.9 au. The error bars
on the orbital parameters are very large. The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is 1.98.
2014 L1 (303P/NEAT)
2003 U3 (P/NEAT) was recovered in images taken at the ESA Optical Ground Station in Tenerife with the 1.0m reflector by P Ruiz.
The comet will return to perihelion 1.80 days earlier than predicted and has a period of 11.4 years.
[MPEC 2014-L12, 2014 June 2]
2014 L2 (P/NEOWISE)
Rachel Stevenson reported a probable comet in NEOWISE spacecraft images from June 7.41. Follow-up
ground-based observations confirmed the comet at 16th magnitude.
[MPEC 2014-L61 CBET 3901, 2014 June 15]
The comet is at perihelion at 2.2 au in 2014 July and has a period of around 16 years.
It approached to within 0.01 au of Saturn in 2009 July.
15 observations received so far suggest a preliminary uncorrected light curve of m =
9.1 + 5 log d
+ [10] log r .
2014 L3 (P/Hill)
Rik Hill discovered an 18th magnitude comet during the Catalina Sky Survey with the 0.68m Schmidt on
June 10.36. Prediscovery images from June 2 were also found in Catalina data. [MPEC 2014-L62, 2014 June 15]
The comet was near perihelion at 1.9 au and has a period of around 25 years.
2014 L4 (304P/Ory)
2008 Q2 (P/Ory) was recovered by Hidetaka Sato in images taken with the iTelescope 0.51m astrograph at Siding Spring on
June 2.79. The comet is very close to the prediction by B. G. Marsden on MPC 65935.
It has a period of 5.8 years.
[MPEC 2014-M10, CBET 3906, 2014 June 18]
2014 L5 (Lemmon)
A 20th magnitude comet was discovered during the Mt Lemmon survey with the 1.5m reflector on June 9.44 and confirmed
after a period of time on the NEOCP and PCCP. [MPEC 2014-M57, 2014 June 28] It has perihelion at 6.2 au in
November.
2014 M1 (PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on June 24.49.
[CBET 3915, MPEC 2014-N01, 2014 July 1] The comet will reach perihelion at 5.6 au in 2015 August.
2014 M2 (Christensen)
Eric Christensen discovered a 20th magnitude comet on June 25.31 on images taken during the Mt Lemmon Survey with
the 1.5m reflector. [CBET 3916, MPEC 2014-N02, 2014 July 1].
The comet was at perihelion at 6.9 au in 2014 July.
2014 M3 (Catalina)
A 19th magnitude object was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on June 26.40.
[CBET 3917, MPEC 2014-N03, 2014 July 1]
The object was found to show cometary features by other observers.
It has a retrograde orbit and perihelion at 2.4 au in 2014 June. It is intrinsically faint.
2014 M4 (P/PanSTARRS)
R Wainscoat discovered a 21st magnitude comet in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on June 30.57.
[CBET 3920, MPEC 2014-N45, 2014 July 7] The comet will reach perihelion at 2.4 au in 2014
December and has a period of around 14 years.
2014 M5 (306P/LINEAR)
2003 O3 (P/LINEAR) was recovered by Hidetaka Sato in images taken with the iTelescope 0.51m astrograph at Siding Spring on
June 21.77. The comet was missed at its 2009 return and is close to the prediction in the 2014 ICQ Handbook.
It has a period of 5.5 years with perihelion at 1.3 au.
[MPEC 2014-N76, CBET 3922, 2014 July 14]
2014 M6 (P/McNaught-Hartley)
1994 N2 (P/McNaught-Hartley) was recovered by PanSTARRS in images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on June 29.32,
though it took further images taken at the MASTER-SAAO Observatory, Sutherland with the 0.4m reflector on 2015 March 31.1 to
confirm the recovery. The comet reaches perihelion at 2.45 au in October and has a period of 20.6 years.
2014 MG4 (P/Spacewatch-PanSTARRS)
Spacewatch discovered an asteroidal object with the 0.9m reflector at Kitt Peak on June 20.42.
PanSTARRS observers then discovered a 19th magnitude comet in images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on
July 25.46 that was found to be the same object. [CBET 3924, MPEC 2014-O48, 2014 July 28]
The comet was at perihelion at 3.7 au in 2013 June and has a period of 11 years.
A/2014 MH55 [PanSTARRS]
A 20th magnitude asteroid was discovered by PanSTARRS on June 29.32 [MPEC 2014-N26, 2014 July 5]
It is classed as a Centaur, with a highly inclined orbit, a period of around 150 years and near perihelion at 1.8 au.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is 0.12.
2014 N1 (305P/Skiff)
Gareth Williams found images of 2004 V1 (P/Skiff) in images taken taken with the PanSTARRS 1 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on July 3.51.
The comet will return to perihelion 0.32 days earlier than predicted and has a period of 9.9 years.
[CBET 3918, MPEC 2014-N43, 2014 July 7]
2014 N2 (PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on July 2.55.
[CBET 3919, MPEC 2014-N44, 2014 July 7] The comet will reach perihelion at 2.2 au in 2014
October.
2014 N3 (NEOWISE)
An 18th magnitude comet was discovered by the NEOWISE (formerly WISE) spacecraft on July
4.52. [CBET 3921, MPEC 2014-N71, 2014 July 13]
. The comet has perihelion at 3.9 au in 2015 March.
2014 O1 (307P/LINEAR)
A team of observers at the European Space Agency's Optical Ground Station recovered 2000 QJ46 (P/LINEAR)
with the 1.0m reflector on July 25.15. The indicated correction to the prediction by B. G. Marsden on
MPC 75735 is Delta(T) = -0.24 day. [CBET 3923, MPEC 2014-O44, 2014 July 27] The comet has a period of
14 years and reaches perihelion at 1.9 au in December.
2014 O2 (308P/Lagerqvist-Carsenty)
A team of observers at the European Space Agency's Optical Ground Station recovered 1997 T3 (P/Lagerqvist-Carsenty)
with the 1.0m reflector on July 29.08. The indicated correction to the prediction by B. G. Marsden on
MPC 79348 is Delta(T) = -1.28 days. [CBET 3925, MPEC 2014-O65, 2014 July 30] The comet has a period of 17 years
and reaches perihelion at 4.2 au in 2015 May.
2014 O3 (P/PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on July 30.43,
with pre-discovery images found from July 8.
[CBET 3930, MPEC 2014-P26, 2014 August 5] The comet was at perihelion at 4.6 au in 2014 April and has a
period of around 20 years.
2014 OE4 (PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on July 26.82,
though by the time its cometary nature had been reported it had already been given a minor planet designation.
[CBET 3928, MPEC 2014-P08, 2014 August 2] The comet will reach perihelion at 6.2 au in 2016 December.
2014 OG392 (PanSTARRS)
PanSTARRS 1 discovered a 21st magnitude asteroid in images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on
2014 July 28.50. There were additional pre-discovery observations back to 2011 July. The object, originally
classified as a Centaur,
is at perihelion at 10.0 au in 2021 November and has a period of 43 years. CBET 4731 [2020 March 16]
reports that a coma was noted in six images taken with large telescopes between 2017 July and 2019 December.
It seems a long time for cometary activity to go unreported. It then tok another seven months for MPEC 2020-U241
to be issued on 2020 October 27. It showed a significant coma on 2020
September 13 and was about 20th magnitude. [CBET 4925, 2021 January 25]
A/2014 OR2 [NEOWISE]
A 20th magnitude asteroid was discovered by the NEOWISE spacecraft on July 22.67 [MPEC 2014-O41, 2014 July 26]
It is classed as an Outer Main-belt Asteroid, with a period of around 9 years and was near perihelion at 1.9 au.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is 2.67.
A/2014 ON27 [PanSTARRS]
A 21st magnitude asteroid was discovered by PanSTARRS on July 25 [MPEC 2014-P20, 2014 August 4]
It is classed as a Centaur, has a period of around 60 years and reaches perihelion at 4.2 au in 2015 September.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is 2.80.
A/2014 OH338 [PanSTARRS]
A 20th magnitude asteroid was discovered by PanSTARRS on July 29.59 [MPEC 2014-P14, 2014 August 3]
It is classed as a Centaur, has a period of around 25 years and reaches perihelion at 1.6 au in November. The
error bars on the orbital parameters are quite large.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is 2.12.
A/2014 PP69 [NEOWISE]
A 22nd magnitude asteroid was discovered by the NEOWISE spacecraft on August 5.63 [MPEC 2014-Q52, 2014 August 26]
It is classed as an Amor, with a period of around 45 years and was just past perihelion at 1.2 au.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is 0.32. It is near the closest it gets to the
Earth at 0.44 au.
2014 Q1 (PanSTARRS)
An 18th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on August 17.72.
[CBET 3933, MPEC 2014-Q09, 2014 August 19] The comet reached perihelion at 0.3 au in 2015 July.
Internet reports suggest that the comet was around 6th magnitude in late 2015 June. The apparition
was
a poor one for northern hemisphere observers, but it was visible in the southern hemisphere.
Willian Souza observed it as it emerged from perihelion, making it 5th magnitude with a
short tail in mid July. By early August it had faded to 7.5 and mid month it was 9th
magnitude.
57 electronic and visual observations received so far suggest a preliminary aperture
corrected light curve of m = 7.6 + 5 log d
+ 9.0 log r .
2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)
Terry Lovejoy discovered a 15th magnitude comet in CCD images taken with his 0.2m Schmidt-Cassegrain on August 16.55.
[CBET 3934, MPEC 2014-Q10, 2014 August 19] The comet reached perihelion at 1.3 au at
the end of January.
It was within visual range by 2014 September, with Paul Camilleri reporting it at 13th
magnitude. It brightened rapidly prior to perihelion. The comet was an easy binocular and naked eye object around the time of perihelion, coming into view for UK observers
around Christmas 2014. Once the moon left the sky in January, the comet was readily
visible at magnitude 4. On January 8 the ion tail suffered a disconnection event,
which was widely covered by amateur imaging from around the world. Many observers
were able to see the comet with the naked eye, but visually the tail was generally hard to see.
Since perihelion it has faded very slowly. During the first half of February the comet remained at around 5th magnitude. By
early March it was around 5.5 and by
the end of the month 6.5. It had faded to 8 by the end of May and was closing on 9th
magnitude by the end of June. The slow fade has continued and it was 9.5 by the
end of July. Surprisingly it was still visible in my 25x100B from central Cambridge
in early August at around 10th magnitude. An electronic observation in early 2016
February suggested that the comet was still 13th magnitude.
The many post perihelion visual observations received so far suggest a preliminary uncorrected light curve of m =
4.2 + 5 log d
+ 6.4 log r .
2014 Q3 (Borisov)
Gennady Borisov discovered a 17th magnitude comet with the 0.3m astrograph
at the Crimea-Nauchnij observatory on August 22.01. [CBET 3936, MPEC 2014-Q38, 2014 August 24]
The comet has a period of around 150 years and reached perihelion at 1.6 au in
2014 November. It reached 12th magnitude in late September. It is
at high northern declination.
14 electronic and visual observations received so far suggest a preliminary light curve of m =
6.9 + 5 log d
+ [20] log r
2014 Q4 (309P/LINEAR)
Krisztian Sarneczky recovered 2005 Q4 (P/LINEAR) with a 0.6m Schmidt at the Piszkesteto Station of Konkoly
Observatory on August 23.00, with PanSTARRS images from the same night later found by Gareth Williams.
The indicated correction to the prediction by Gareth Williams on
MPC 75706 is Delta(T) = -0.26 day. [CBET 3937, MPEC 2014-Q39, 2014 August 24] The comet has a period of
9.4 years and reaches perihelion at 1.7 au in 2015 February.
2014 Q5 (310P/Hill)
Krisztian Sarneczky recovered 2006 S6 (P/Hill) with a 0.6m Schmidt at the Piszkesteto Station of Konkoly
Observatory on August 24.98.
The indicated correction to the prediction by Gareth Williams on
MPC 79348 is Delta(T) = -0.32 day. [CBET 3938, MPEC 2014-Q53, 2014 August 26] The comet has a period of
8.5 years and reaches perihelion at 2.4 au in 2015 April.
2014 Q6 (PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on August 31.35.
[CBET 3961, MPEC 2014-R44, 2014 September 4] The comet will reach perihelion at 4.2 au in 2015
January.
2014 QU2 (PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude asteroid was discovered by PanSTARRS on August 16.59 [MPEC 2014-Q13, 2014 August 20]
It was classed as a Centaur, with a retrograde orbit, a period of around 55 years and a month or two past perihelion at 2.2 au.
The error bars on the orbital parameters were large.
Subsequent imaging in mid September showed a distinct coma and tail, so the object was
reclassified as a comet. It is in a long period orbit, with perihelion at 2.2 au in 2014 July.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is -1.03. [CBET 3974, MPEC 2014-S10, 2014 September 17]
2014 R1 (Borisov)
Gennady Borisov discovered a 16th magnitude comet with the 0.3m astrograph
at the Crimea-Nauchnij observatory on September 5.05. [CBET 3968, MPEC 2014-R64, 2014 September 7]
The comet reached perihelion at 1.3 au in 2014 November.
8 observation received so far suggest a preliminary uncorrected light curve of m =
8.4 + 5 log d
+ [10] log r .
2014 R2 (312P/NEAT)
2001 Q11 (P/NEAT) was recovered in images taken by Eric Christensen at Mt Lemmon with the
1.5m reflector on September 6.45. After the object was posted on the PCCP, Hidetaka
Sato was able to find the comet in images taken on July 28.82. The comet will return to perihelion
0.68 days earlier than predicted and has a period of 6.4 years.
It was discovered by Maik Meyer in 2010 in images taken in 2001, though no images could
be found from the 2007 return.
[CBET 3971, MPEC 2014-R91, 2014 September 12]
2014 R3 (PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on September 6.33.
[CBET 3972, MPEC 2014-S05, 2014 September 16] The comet is at perihelion at 7.3 au in 2016
August.
2014 R4 (Gibbs)
Alex Gibbs discovered a 17th magnitude comet on September 14.48 on images taken during the
Catalina Sky Survey with the 0.68m Schmidt. [CBET 3973, MPEC 2014-S09, 2014 September 17].
The comet was nearing perihelion at 1.8 au in October.
2014 R5 (P/Lemmon-PanSTARRS)
A 19th magnitude comet was suspected in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on September 19.47.
Tim Spahr linked the suspect with an apparently asteroidal object found during the Mt Lemmon Survey on September 14.39.
Other CCD astrometrists then commented on the suspects cometary characteristics.
[CBET 3987, MPEC 2014-S81, 2014 September 24] The comet was at perihelion at 2.4 au in 2014 June and has a period
of around 8 years. It appeared on the PCCP as 2F61M11 on 2022 June 7.65,
so was presumably recovered.
2014 S1 (PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on September 19.56.
[CBET 3988, MPEC 2014-S82, 2014 September 24] The comet was at perihelion at 8.1 au in
2013 October.
2014 S2 (PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on September 22.47.
[CBET 3989, MPEC 2014-S83, 2014 September 24] The comet is at perihelion at 2.1 au in 2015 December.
Juan Jose Gonzalez reported it at 11th magnitude in September 2015 and it could brighten
another magnitude by perihelion. I was able to observe the well-condensed comet in
25x100B from central Cambridge on November 1st, estimating it at 10th magnitude. It
was still a quite easy object on December 31 and around 9.5.
The comet was still near 9th magnitude in March, suggesting that the comet is following a
linear type light curve. It had begun to fade by April, but was still magnitude 9.5
in 25x100B from central Cambridge in early April.113 visual and visual equivalent observations received so far suggest a preliminary uncorrected light curve of m =
7.7 + 5 log d
+ 0.0064 * abs(t-T-43) .
2014 S3 (PanSTARRS)
A 22nd magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on September 22.52.
[CBET 3990, MPEC 2014-S114, 2014 September 27] The comet was at perihelion at 2.0 au in 2014 August.
2014 S4 (313P/Gibbs)
Alex Gibbs discovered a 19th magnitude comet on September 24.31 on images taken during the
Catalina Sky Survey with the 0.68m Schmidt. Subsequently pre-discovery images were found in Sky Survey data.
[CBET 3991, MPEC 2014-S115, 2014 September 27].
With an improved orbit, S Nakano found the comet in LONEOS images from September and November 2003 and
it was designated 2003 S10 for that return. No observations have been found for the 2009
return. [CBET 4003, 2014 October 19, MPEC 2014-U24, 2014 October 20]
The comet was at perihelion at 2.4 au in 2014 August and has a period of 5.6 years.
A/2014 SQ339 [PanSTARRS]
A 22nd magnitude asteroid was discovered by PanSTARRS on September 29.52 [MPEC 2014-T36, 2014 October 4]
It is classed as a Centaur, has a period of around 140 years and reached perihelion at 2.8 au in 2014 June.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is -1.05. The orbit is akin to that of many
long period comets.
2014 TG64 (Catalina)
A 19th magnitude asteroid was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on October 14.30.
[MPEC 2014-U18, 2014 October 18; CBET 4025, MPEC 2014-W93, 2014 November 24]
The object was found to show cometary features in PanSTARRS observations on November 22.4,
which were confirmed by CFH images the next day.
It was at perihelion at 3.2 au in 2014 May and has a period of around 60 years.
Although I had noted it as of potential interest, it had made no close planetary
approaches, so I did not list it here.
2014 U1 (314P/Montani)
1997 G1 (P/Montani) was recovered on October 13.31 at the Steward Observatory, Kitt Peak by Terry Bressi
and A F Tubbiolo with the 0.9m reflector. [CBET 4005, MPEC 2014-U63, 2014 October
25] The perihelion date was by chance in good agreement with that given in the
Section predictions for 2016, which used the predicted value of T for the equinox of date
in 2014 May, and around 1.2 days earlier than those published for the equinox of
perihelion.
2014 U2 (P/Kowalski)
Richard Kowalski discovered an 18th magnitude comet on October 25.38 in images taken during the
Catalina Sky Survey with the 0.68m Schmidt. Pre-discovery CSS images from October 18.35 were quickly
found and other imagers confirmed the discovery. [CBET 4006, MPEC 2014-U97, 2014 October 27] The comet has a
period of around 5 years with perihelion at 1.2 au and was just past perihelion. It
is intrinsically very faint, but was discovered during a relatively good return when it
was only 0.4 au from Earth; the MOID is 0.2 au. An approach to within 0.5 au of
Jupiter in 2017 will reduce the perihelion distance to 1.1 au in 2019.
2014 U3 (Kowalski)
Richard Kowalski discovered a 19th magnitude comet on October 26.41 in images taken during the
Catalina Sky Survey with the 0.68m Schmidt. [CBET 4007, MPEC 2014-U98, 2014 October 27] Based on an arc of
less than a day, the comet had perihelion at 0.2 au in 2014 July according to the published MPEC.
The time of perihelion was given to a precision of 5dp, when according to JPL the 1-sigma uncertainty was 104 days.
This is not good physics. As I suggested, further observations changed the orbit
significantly. MPEC 2014-W120 [2014 November 27] gives perihelion at 2.6 au on 2014
August 31.1, still to 5dp, whilst JPL gives it on 2014 September 3.6, and with a 1-sigma uncertainty of
0.3 days. This was noticed and the next day another MPEC was issued bringing the
elements into alignment. Gareth Williams noted "
Due to a production issue, the orbit on MPEC 2014-W120 was not the
updated orbit that was meant to be included."
2014 U4 (P/PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on October 28.53,
with pre-discovery images found from September 2 (found by Gareth Williams), and also in Catalina Sky Survey images from September 30 and
Spacewatch images from October (found by Tim Spahr).
[CBET 4014, MPEC 2014-V41, 2014 November 10] The comet was at perihelion at 1.8 au in 2014 August and has a
period of 6.5 years. It made a relatively close approach to within 0.3 au of Jupiter in
2004 August.
2014 U5 (P/LONEOS-Christensen)
2005 RV25 (P/LONEOS-Christensen) was recovered on October 22.98 at the ESA Optical Ground Station, Tenerife
by Diana Abreu with the 1.0m reflector. The recovery was confirmed by J D Armstrong with the Faulkes-North
[CBET 4017, MPEC 2014-W19, 2014 November 19] The comet has perihelion at 3.6 au in 2015 October
and a period of 8.9 years.
The correction to the prediction by B. G. Marsden on MPC 79351 is Delta(T) =
+0.50 day.
2014 V1 (P/PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on November 9.21.
[CBET 4015, MPEC 2014-V52, 2014 November 14] The comet is at perihelion at 2.6 au in 2014
December and has a
period of around 9 years. There is an uncertainty of 2.5 years in the period
2014 W1 (P/PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on November 17.35.
[CBET 4018, MPEC 2014-W54, 2014 November 21] The comet was at perihelion at 2.7 au in 2014
August and has a period of around 9 years.
2014 W2 (PanSTARRS)
A 19th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on November 17.35.
Tim Spahr identified pre-discovery images of the comet in Catalina Sky Survey data from October 26 and November 16.
[CBET 4019, MPEC 2014-W55, 2014 November 21] The comet will reach perihelion at 2.7 au in 2016 March.
Calculations by Hirohisa Sato suggest that it moves in a long period ellipse. It was
near 12th magnitude at its brightest, but is now fading.
51 observation received so far suggest a preliminary uncorrected light curve of m =
4.8 + 5 log d
+ 12.2 log r .
2014 W3 (PanSTARRS)
A 19th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on November 18.47.
[CBET 4020, MPEC 2014-W56, 2014 November 21] The comet was at perihelion at 6.1 au
in 2014 February. It is classed as a hyperbolic comet.
2014 W4 (P/PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on November 18.50.
Tim Spahr identified pre-discovery PanSTARRS images from October 25.
[CBET 4021, MPEC 2014-W57, 2014 November 21] The comet will be at perihelion at 4.3
au in 2015 December and has a period of around 17 years.
2014 W5 (Lemmon-PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on November 20.48.
It was also discovered as a 20th magnitude asteroid by the Mt Lemmon Survey on November
16.29, but did not make the NEOCP. [CBET 4023, MPEC 2014-W68, 2014 November 22] The comet will reach perihelion at 2.6 au in 2016 February.
The orbital parameters are not yet well-defined. So far it has only been
observed over a six day arc.
2014 W6 (Catalina)
An 18th magnitude object was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on November 20.51.
The object was found to show cometary features by other observers. [CBET 4024, MPEC 2014-W69, 2014 November 22]
It has perihelion at 3.1 au in 2015 March.
2014 W7 (Christensen)
Eric Christensen discovered a 19th magnitude comet during the Mt Lemmon Survey with the 1.5m reflector on November 22.52.
[CBET 4027, MPEC 2014-W116, 2014 November 26]
It has perihelion at 1.5 au in 2014 December. It has a period of around 40
years. The comet is intrinsically faint.
2014 W8 (PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m
Ritchey-Chretien on November 22.42. [CBET 4028, MPEC 2014-W117, 2014 November
26] The comet will reach perihelion at 5.0 au in 2015 September.
The orbital parameters are not yet well-defined.
2014 W9 (PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on November 22.64.
Pre-discovery observations were made at Mt Lemmon on October 25.
[CBET 4029, MPEC 2014-W118, 2014 November 26] The comet was at perihelion at 1.6 au in 2015 February.
It has a period of around 40 years.
2014 W10 (PanSTARRS)
A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on November 25.25.
[CBET 4030, MPEC 2014-X31, 2014 December 5] The comet was at perihelion at about 8.0 au in
2014 February±2 years.
2014 W11 (PanSTARRS)
A 19th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on November 26.55.
Tim Spahr identified pre-discovery observations in images taken by Mt Lemmon, ISON and Catalina.
[CBET 4031, MPEC 2014-X32, 2014 December 5] The comet will reach perihelion at 3.4 au in 2015 June and has a
period of around 30 years. An encounter with Saturn will increase the perihelion distance to
3.7 au and slightly reduce the period at the next return. The comet reached 14th
magnitude in 2015 March.
2014 W12 (P/Gibbs)
Alex Gibbs discovered an 18th magnitude comet during the Mt Lemmon Survey with the 1.5m reflector on November 30.07.
[CBET 4032, MPEC 2014-X33, 2014 December 5]
It has perihelion at 1.7 au in 2014 November and a period of around 7 years.
2014 X1 (P/Elenin)
Leonid Elenin discovered an 18th magnitude comet in images taken with the 0.4m astrograph at the ISON Observatory
near Mayhill, New Mexico on December 12.16. Gareth Williams found pre-discovery PanSTARRS images from September,
and Mt Lemmon images from October.
[CBET 4034, MPEC 2014-X66, 2014 December 13] The comet was at perihelion at 1.8 au in 2015
January and has a period of around 16 years.
2014 XB8 (PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude asteroid discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on December 15.37
was found to have cometary features when imaged by the University of Hawaii 2.2m telescope
the next day. [CBET 4040, MPEC 2014-Y87, 2014 December 30] The comet will reach perihelion at 3.0 au in
2015 April.
A/2014 XS3 [PanSTARRS]
A 20th magnitude asteroid was discovered by PanSTARRS on December 8.21 [MPEC 2014-X68, 2014 December 14]
It is classed as a Trans-Neptunian Object, has a slightly retrograde orbit, a period of around
700±100 years
and was near perihelion at 3.3 au.
The Tisserand parameter of the orbit with respect to Jupiter is -0.37.
2014 Y1 (PanSTARRS)
A 20th magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on December 16.46.
Tim Spahr found pre-discovery images in PanSTARRS data from a month earlier.
[CBET 4037, MPEC 2014-Y20, 2014 December 19] The comet will reach perihelion at 2.2 au in
2016 January. It might reach 14th magnitude around the time of perihelion.
Ephemerides of current comets are available on the CBAT
ephemeris page and positions of newly discovered comets are on the
NEO confirmation page.
More information on LINEAR. A list of comets
discovered by selected search programs.
The Northumberland refractor
is the telescope that was used in the search for Neptune.
It now has a 0.30-m f20 doublet lens which gives a stellar limiting magnitude of around
15 at the zenith on good nights.
The Thorrowgood refractor was
built in 1864 and has a 0.20-m f14 doublet lens.
Published by Jonathan Shanklin. Jon Shanklin - jds@ast.cam.ac.uk