British Astronomical Association
Comet Section

2002 News

Jan 06  96P/Machholz now visible in C3 coronagraph
Jan 06  Comet Section meeting
Jan 07  Comet predictions for 2003 
Jan 07  Pepe Manteca reports 2001 TU80 is 15th mag, about 2 mag brighter than expected.  It will fade.
Jan 09  96P/Machholz 1 very bright and possibly a daylight object
Jan 11  LINEAR discovers twin comets 2002 A1 and A2
Jan 13  Aten-type asteroid 2002 AL14 may be in a cometary orbit
Jan 14  P/Helin-Lawrence recovered as 2001 Y1
Jan 21  LINEAR discovers a faint, distant comet 2002 A3
Jan 27  Maik Meyer reports that SOHO comets 1997 L2, 2001 E1 and 2001 X8 are members of a triplet
Jan 28  Andrew Pearce reports that 2000 WM1 is in outburst at 4.5 mag
Jan 30  2000 WM1 peaks at around 3.0
Feb 01  9th mag comet 2002 C1 discovered by Ikeya and Zhang
Feb 02  Asteroid 2001 OG108 shown to be cometary
Feb 02  Comet 2002 C2 discovered by LINEAR
Feb 04  Maik Meyer discovers a C3 Kreutz sungrazer 2002 C3
Feb 04  Comet 2002 B1 discovered by LINEAR
Feb 06  Comet 2002 B2 discovered by LINEAR (79)
Feb 08  New edition of BAA 'Observing Guide to Comets' published
Feb 09  Rainer Kracht reports  archival non Kreutz comet from 1997 April
Feb 10  Tony Hoffman discovers a real time Kreutz sungrazer in C3 - 2002 C4
Feb 11  Maik Meyer suggests that comets 2000 C2, 2000 C5 and 2001 T1 may all be members of the 'Meyer group'
Feb 11  Rainer Kracht reports a second archival non Kreutz comet from 1997 April 21
Feb 12  Rainer Kracht reports a third archival non Kreutz comet from 1997 April 29
Feb 12  Comet 2002 B3 discovered by LINEAR (80)
Feb 13  Kenelm England notes a possible Kreutz sungrazer from 1949 July, reported on IAUC 1221 
Feb 13  LINEAR discovers asteroid 2002 CE10 in cometary orbit
Feb 13  Asteroid 2001 WF2 (LONEOS) found to be cometary
Feb 13  Sebastian Hoenig reports a pair of archival Kreutz comets from 1998 April
Feb 14  Asteroid 2001 YX127 discovered by LINEAR shown to be cometary
Feb 15  Latest orbit for Ikeya-Zhang shows it to be periodic with period 400 - 500 years
Feb 17  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Kreutz comet from 1999 April 19
Feb 18  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Kreutz comet from 1999 April 26
Feb 18  Brian Marsden reports an additional SOHO group with i about 25 degrees
Feb 20  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Kreutz comet from 1999 May 13
Feb 22  Xavier Leprette reports a real time C3 Kreutz comet
Feb 22  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Meyer group comet from 1999 May 26
Feb 22  Nakano suggests that 2002 C1 is a return of 1661 C1
Feb 22  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Kreutz comet from 1999 May 27
Feb 25  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Meyer comet from 1999 June 9
Feb 26  Jonathan Shanklin suggests possible identity of 2002 C1 with the comet of 877
Feb 27  Rainer Kracht reports an archival comet from 1999 June 30
Mar 02  Sebastian Hoenig reports a real time C3 Kreutz comet
Mar 03  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Marsden comet from 1998 January 3
Mar 04  Maik Meyer reports an archival Meyer comet from 2000 January 16
Mar 04  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Marsden comet from 1998 January 10
Mar 08  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Marsden comet from 1998 January 9
Mar 09  Marsden group comets may be associated with 96P/Machholz, the June Arietids and the Quadrantids
Mar 12  New 11th mag comet 2002 E2 discovered by Snyder and Murakami
Mar 12  Rainer Kracht reports archival comets from 1999 July 11 and 12
Mar 15  Xavier Leprette reports a real time sungrazer in C3
Mar 17  Rainer Kracht reports an archival C2 comet from 1999 August 5
Mar 19  Rainer Kracht reports an archival C2 comet from 1999 August 12
Mar 19  Rainer Kracht reports two archival C2 comets from 1999 August 15
Mar 20  Syogo Utsunomiya discovers 10th mag comet in morning twilight
Mar 20  Sebastian Hoenig reports a real time Kreutz sungrazer in C3
Mar 23  An asteroid discovered by LINEAR found to be a comet
Mar 25  Maik Meyer and Xavier Leprette report a real time C2 Kreutz comet
Apr 02  Rainer Kracht reports archival comet in C2 from 1999 December 3 = SOHO 177
Apr 02  Rainer Kracht reports real time comet in C2
Apr 04  Real time C2 sungrazer reported by Xavier Leprette
Apr 04  Another C2 sungrazer reported by Rainer Kracht and Sebastian Hoenig
Apr 04  Rainer Kracht reports an archival C2 sungrazer from 1999 Nov 26
Apr 07  LINEAR asteroid 2002 AR2 found to be a comet
Apr 08  Rainer Kracht reports archival Meyer group comet from 2002 Jan 1
Apr 10  Nicolas Biver reports comet 2002 F1 possibly in outburst at 6th mag
Apr 11  Death of Yuji Hyakutake, aged 51, reported
Apr 12  XingMing Zhou and Jonathan Shanklin discover real time non Kreutz comet in C3
Apr 12  Rainer Kracht and Rob Matson report a bright C2 real time sungrazer
Apr 14  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Meyer group comet from 1999 March 17
Apr 15  Periodic comet names revised in line with the 14th Comet Catalogue
Apr 17  Kazimieras Cernis and Pavel Shkreby report faint Kreutz sungrazer in C3
Apr 17  Xavier Leprette and Rainer Kracht report a faint C2 sungrazer
Apr 18  XingMing Zhou reports a C2 sungrazer
Apr 19  XingMing Zhou reports another C2 sungrazer
Apr 22  The April Comets Tale has gone to the printers
Apr 23  New comet 2002 H2 discovered by LINEAR, approx 11th mag. 
Apr 24  Archival comet 2000 S5 reported from SWAN imagery
Apr 24  Rainer Kracht reports archival Kreutz sungrazer from 2000 April 26
Apr 25  Rainer Kracht reports archival Kreutz sungrazer from 2000 April 28
Apr 26  Maik Meyer reports real-time C2 Kreutz sungrazer
Apr 26  Rainer Kracht reports archival Meyer group comet from 2000 May 6
Apr 28  Rainer Kracht reports archival Meyer group comet from 2000 July 4
Apr 29  The April Comets Tale posted to UK destinations
Apr 30  The April Comets Tale posted to non European destinations
May 01  Rainer Kracht reports faint real time comet in C2
May 02  LINEAR asteroid 2002 EJ57 found to be comet
May 03  Rainer Kracht reports faint real time comet in C2
May 03  Rob Matson reports possible very faint Kreutz comet in C2
May 05  Rainer Kracht reports two archival comets from 1998 November
May 06  Rainer Kracht reports archival Meyer group comet from 1998 November 28
May 07  Maik Meyer reports archival Kreutz group comet from 1998 December 7
May 09  Asteroid 2002 BV (Yeung) found to be a periodic comet
May 11  Rainer Kracht reports archival Marsden group comet from 2000 February 4
May 13  Xavier Leprette & Toni Scarmato report possible real time Kreutz comet in C2
May 13  Kazimieras Cernis & Toni Scarmato report possible real time Kreutz comet in C2
May 13  Kazimieras Cernis reports bright real time Kreutz comet in C3
May 13  NEAT discovers a distant 17th mag comet, 2002 J4
May 14  Xavier Leprette & Michael Oates report a companion to 2002 J3 in C2
May 15  Rob Matson reports real time Kreutz comet in C2
May 17  NEAT discovers an 18th mag comet, possibly 13th mag visually
May 18  Rainer Kracht reports a real time C2 Kreutz sungrazer
May 18  LINEAR discovers two faint, distant comets
May 22  Asteroid reported by LINEAR found to be a comet 2002 JN16
May 22  Xavier Leprette reports an archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2001 April 17
May 23  Maik Meyer reports a possible real-time C2 Kreutz comet
May 24  Sebastian Hoenig reports a faint real-time C3 Kreutz comet
May 25  DongHua Chen & Rainer Kracht report a real-time C2 Kreutz comet
May 25  Rainer Kracht reports an archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2000 March 19
May 27  Rainer Kracht reports an archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2000 March 28
May 28  NEAT discovers faint comet 2002 K4
Jun 03  Rainer Kracht reports an archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2000 October 7
Jun 04  Rainer Kracht reports an archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2000 October 12
Jun 05  Rainer Kracht and Rob Matson report a real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 06  Maik Meyer reports real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 07  Dwight Hanson reports real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 07  Maik Meyer reports a real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 08  Rainer Kracht reports archival Meyer comet from 2000 December 03
Jun 08  Dwight Hanson reports real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 11  Tony Scarmato reports a real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 13  Xavier Leprette and Dwight Hanson report real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 13  David Evans reports a real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 15  Michael Oates reports a real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 15  Rainer Kracht reports archival Meyer comet from 1997 July 25
Jun 17  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time C3 Kreutz comet
Jun 19  Xavier Leprette reports an archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2001 May 13
Jun 19  Rainer Kracht reports archival Meyer comet from 1997 October 19
Jun 20  Two archival and one real-time C2 comets reported by Leprette and Kracht
Jun 23  Two real-time C2 Kreutz comets reported by Rainer Kracht & Xavier Leprette
Jun 24  Edgar Wilson awards for 2002 announced
Jun 27  Xavier Leprette reports  real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 28  Tony Hoffman and Rob Matson report a real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jun 28  Rob Matson reports two real-time C2 Kreutz comets
Jul 01  Mike Boschat reports a real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Jul 02  Discovery of a faint distant comet by NEAT reported on IAUC
Jul 04  Dave Evans reports a real-time C2 Kreutz comet - not confirmed
Jul 04  Rainer Kracht reports archival Meyer comet from 2001 February 11
Jul 05  Rainer Kracht reports archival comet from 2001 February 18
Jul 08  Xavier Leprette reports a real-time C3 Kreutz comet
Jul 09  Xavier Leprette reports an archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2001 June 8
Jul 11  Rainer Kracht reports archival Meyer comet from 2001 May 16
Jul 12  Michael Oates reports archival Meyer comet from 2001 June 1
Jul 13  Secondary component of 57P found by NEAT
Jul 16  Triplet of C3 Kreutz comets reported by Sebastian Hoenig and Rob Matson
Jul 16  Rainer Kracht reports archival Kracht comet from 2001 August 24
Jul 17  Two archival Kracht comets from 2001 September reported by Rainer Kracht
Jul 17  Archival C2 Meyer comet from 2001 September reported by Michael Oates
Jul 20  A further 18 fragments of 57P discovered
Jul 21  Archival C2 Meyer comets from late 2001 reported by Kracht & Oates
Jul 24  Dave Evans reports archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2002 June 16
Jul 28  Dave Evans reports archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2002 April 23
Jul 28  Sebastian Hoenig visually discovers 12th mag comet 2002 O4 on July 22
Jul 31  NEAT has discovered another comet, 2002 O5, about 15th mag
Aug 01  Masayuki Suzuki reports discovery of comet 2002 O6 on SWAN images
Aug 02  Rob Matson reports two archival C2 Kreutz comets from 2002 May 25
Aug 04  Dave Evans reports archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2002 May 30 
Aug 05  LINEAR discovers 18th mag comet 2002 O7
Aug 05  NEAT discovers 17th mag comet 2002 O8
Aug 06  Dave Evans reports possible archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2002 June 14
Aug 08  NEAT discovers 19th mag comet 2002 P1
Aug 09  Rainer Kracht reports archival Meyer comet from 2002 April 20
Aug 10  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time C3 Kreutz comet
Aug 11  Dave Evans reports possible archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2002 May 26
Aug 12  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time C2 Meyer comet.  This is SOHO 500
Aug 13  Rainer Kracht reports archival Kracht comet from 2002 July 11
Aug 15  Dwight Hanson reports possible archival Kracht comet from 2002 July 21
Aug 15  Contact has been lost with NASA's CONTOUR spacecraft
Aug 19  LONEOS discover a 16th mag comet 2002 Q1
Aug 23  Xavier Leprette reports a real-time C2 comet
Aug 23  John Sachs and Rob Matson report a real-time C3 Kreutz comet
Aug 25  Dave Evans reports possible archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2002 May 20
Aug 25  Xingming Zhou reports a real-time C2 Kracht comet
Aug 26  Dave Evans reports possible archival C2 Kreutz comet from 2002 April 28
Aug 27  LINEAR discovers two related comets in the same field.  2002 Q2 & Q3.
Aug 28  P/Brewington recovered = 2002 Q4
Aug 29  LINEAR discovers 15th mag comet 2002 Q5
Aug 29  Dave Evans and John Sachs report a pair (or triplet) of real time C3 comets
Aug 31  Rainer Kracht reports archival C2 non group comet from 2002 August 19
Sep 01  Dave Evans reports two archival C3 comets
Sep 02  Rainer Kracht reports real time C2 Marsden group comet
Sep 03  Rainer Kracht reports real time C2 Marsden group comet
Sep 05  Rob Matson reports a real time C2/C3 non group comet
Sep 10  LONEOS discovers asteroid 2002 RP120 in retrograde orbit
Sep 13  Two real-time C3 Kreutz comets reported by Dave Evans and John Sachs
Sep 13  P/Shoemaker recovered as 2002 R2
Sep 13  John Sachs reports a possible real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Sep 14  Dave Evans reports a possible C3 kreutz from 2002 August 16
Sep 14  LONEOS discovers a distant comet 2002 R3
Sep 15  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time Meyer group comet in C2
Sep 17  Sebastian Hoenig reports a bright real time Kreutz comet in C3
Sep 17  Xavier Leprette & Sebastian Hoenig report a real time Kreutz comet in C3
Sep 17  Rob Matson reports a real time non group comet in C3
Sep 17  Brian Skiff (LONEOS) discovers an 18th magnitude comet
Sep 19  Rainer Kracht & Toni Scarmato report a real-time Kracht group comet in C2
Sep 20  Three real time C3 comets reported
Sep 21  Dave Evans reports a possible real-time C3 Kreutz comet
Sep 23  Sebastian Hoenig reports a possible real-time C3 Kreutz comet
Sep 25  46P/Wirtanen reported in outburst
Sep 26  Mike Boschat, John Sachs & Tony Scarmato report a real-time C3 Kreutz comet
Sep 30  Toni Scarmato reports a real-time Kracht group comet in C3
Oct 04  Xavier Leprette reports a real-time Meyer group comet in C2
Oct 04  LINEAR discovers 15th mag periodic comet
Oct 08  Michael Oates reports a real-time C3 Kreutz comet
Oct 09  October Comet's Tale mailing completed
Oct 12  NEAT rediscovers 54P/de Vico-Swift
Oct 16  The Post Office have surcharged some copies of the Comet's Tale mailing - apologies
Oct 16  Xavier Leprette reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Oct 17  Sebastian Hoenig reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Oct 19  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Kreutz comet from 1999 June 24
Oct 20  Rainer Kracht reports an archival non group comet from 1999 July 18
Oct 22  Sebastian Hoenig reports a possible real-time C2 Kreutz comet
Oct 22  LINEAR discovers 18th mag periodic comet
Oct 26  LINEAR discovers 17th mag comet
Oct 26  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C3
Oct 28  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time Meyer group comet in C2
Oct 29  Xavier Leprette reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Oct 29  NEAT-LINEAR discover 18th mag periodic comet
Oct 29  LINEAR discovers 17th mag comet
Oct 30  Rob Matson reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Oct 31  Xavier Leprette reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Oct 31  Sebastian Hoenig reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 06  NEAT discover a 16th mag comet 2002 V1
Nov 06  Rob Matson reports an archival non group comet (2P) in C3 from 2000 September 7
Nov 09  Dave Evans & Xavier Leprette report a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 09  Rainer Kracht & Toni Scarmato report a real-time Meyer group comet in C2
Nov 09  LINEAR discovers a distant 18th mag comet
Nov 10  Rainer Kracht reports an archival Kreutz comet from 2000 April 10
Nov 11  Rob Matson reports a real-time Marsden group comet in C2
Nov 13  Kazimieras Cernis reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C3
Nov 15  Two asteroids in unusual orbits discovered by LINEAR
Nov 15  Rob Matson reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 16  Dave Evans reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 16  XingMing Zhou reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 17  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 18  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 19  Maik Meyer & XingMing Zhou report a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 19  Sebastian Hoenig & John Sachs report a real-time Kreutz group comet in C3
Nov 19  Leonid storm observed from St Maximin, Provence, France
Nov 20  Rob Matson reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 21  Dave Evans & Rob Matson report a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 22  Kazimieras Cernis reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C3
Nov 22  Dave Evans & Toni Scarmato report a real-time Kreutz group comet in C3
Nov 25  XingMing Zhou reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 25  Xavier Leprette reports a Kreutz group comet in C2 from yesterday
Nov 25  Rob Matson reports a real-time non group comet in C2
Nov 27  John Sachs, Hoenig & Scarmato report a real-time Kreutz group comet in C3
Nov 28  XingMing Zhou reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Nov 29  Sebastian Hoenig reports three near real-time Kreutz group comets in C2
Nov 29  Xavier Leprette reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Dec 01  XingMing Zhou reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Dec 02  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time Meyer group comet in C2
Dec 03  Tony Hoffman reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C3
Dec 04  XingMing Zhou reports two real-time Kreutz group comets in C2 -
        the second might have been visible from Africa during the total eclipse
Dec 05  Three more Kreutz group comets found in C2
Dec 07  LINEAR discovers an 18th mag comet
Dec 08  Rainer Kracht & Maciej Reszelski report a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Dec 09  NEAT discovers an 18th mag comet
Dec 09  XingMing Zhou reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Dec 10  John Sachs and Rob Matson report a real-time Kreutz group comet in C3
Dec 11  Xavier Leprette & Michael Oates report a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Dec 13  RAS Discussion meeting on Cometary Science at the launch of Rosetta
Dec 13  Sebastian Hoenig reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Dec 14  Bright new comet discovered by Tetsuo Kudo & Shigehisa Fujikawa
Dec 18  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Dec 20  Xavier Leprette reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Dec 26  Rainer Kracht reports a real-time Kreutz group comet in C2
Dec 29  New comet discovered by Charles Juels and Paulo Holvorcem