Comet Section - Annual Report 2002
The highlight of the year
has been comet Ikeya-Zhang.� This turned
out to be a recovery of a periodic comet last seen in 1661 and perhaps at a
couple of earlier returns.� It reached 3rd
magnitude and appeared in the evening sky as the classic image of a comet, with
a bright nuclear condensation and a long, straight tail.� A large number of observations were
received.� The session was graced with
several bright comets, with 2000 WM1 and 2001 A2 reaching naked eye brightness
in addition to 2002 C1.� There were
another three binocular objects and fifteen telescopic comets.
The total number of comet
discoveries was 184, with 137 found on SOHO imagery.� The Director's suggestion that there should be many non-Kreutz
comets in the archival data proved correct, with nearly 25% of the SOHO
discoveries in this category.� Of the
other 47 comets given designations during the session, three were recoveries of
periodic comets, (including Ikeya-Zhang and the accidental recovery of 11P), and
42, of which 15 were periodic, were new discoveries by professional search
teams.� Some of these were
co-discoveries and some received individual observer's names.� LINEAR found 25, NEAT 12 and LONEOS 5.� Unusually these days, amateurs discovered
five comets of which three were periodic.�
The two periodic comets recovered at their first observed return
received new permanent numbers, bringing the total to 153.� Several further asteroidal objects in
unusual orbits were also discovered.
Guy Hurst has continued
to publish the Section�s observations in The Astronomer magazine and they have
also appeared in the International Comet Quarterly.� Papers on the comets of 1996 and 1997 by the Director and one on
sungrazing comets by Kenelm England were published in the Journal.� A paper on the comets of 1998 by the
Director and one by Michael Hendrie on comet Kobayashi-Berger-Milon were
accepted for publication.� The revised
edition of the Section Observing Guide was published in time for Astrofest and
is selling well.� The Director prepared
two issues of the section newsletter �The Comet�s Tale�.� Exchanges of our newsletter with numerous
overseas comet-observing groups continued and many contribute their
observations by e-mail.� The Director
helped several amateur and professional astronomers and the media with research
inquiries.� He was interviewed by the
Today Programme on Radio 4 in connection with comet Ikeya-Zhang and appeared on
TV with Paul Roche.� The Section World
Wide Web pages continue to provide up to date information and are used by many
observers and professionals.�
Jonathan Shanklin
Director
Section Officials 2001 -
2002
Director����������������������� Jonathan Shanklin
Assistant
Director����������������������� Guy Hurst
CCD
Advisor����������������������� Nick James
Photograpic
Advisor����������������������� Michael
Hendrie