COBS News archive

New Comet: C/2012 K5 (LINEAR)
May 30, 2012
Cbet nr. 3127, issued on 2012, May 28, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 18.5) by the LINEAR survey on CCD images taken with the 1.0-m f/2.15 reflector on May 25.3. The new comet has been designated C/2012 K5 (LINEAR).

Recovery of comet P/2005 N3 (LARSON)
May 28, 2012
Cbet Circular No. 3123, issued on 2012, May 25, announces the recovery of comet P/2005 N3 (LARSON) = 2012 K4 (Larson) by our team; this comet was discovered on 2005, July 5.38 by S. Larson on CCD images taken in the course of the Mt. Lemmon Survey and it was last observed on 2005, December 02.

New Comet: P/2012 K3 (GIBBS)
May 24, 2012
Cbet nr. 3122, issued on 2012, May 23, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 18.3) by A. R. Gibbs on CCD images taken with the Mount Lemmon 1.5-m reflector on May 21.3. The new comet has been designated P/2012 K3 (GIBBS).

First images of Comet 67P close to its aphelion
May 12, 2012
Its not often that amateurs can provide an important support to professional astronomers involved in an international space mission. At a recent comet conference for the forthcoming Rosetta mission, which will orbit comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014, and place a lander on the surface.

Discovery of cometary nature of 2011 FR143
April 23, 2012
2011 FR143 was discovered by the Mt.Lemmon Sky Survey (part of the Catalina Sky Survey) on 2011 Mar. 29 and followed until Apr. 26. Its orbit was quite unusual (a=6.83 AU, e= 0.45 and a period of 17.9 yrs) and with a Tisserand parameter of 2.73 it was put in our special list of the T3 observing project.

New Comet: P/2012 F5 (GIBBS)
March 26, 2012
CBET 3069 and M.P.E.C. 2012-F87, issued on 2012, March 25, announced the discovery of a periodic comet by A. R. Gibbs on Mar. 22.8, through the Mount Lemmon 1.5-m reflector. On his images, Gibbs, found a stellar coma and a long, narrow tail about 7.4 arcmin long in p.a. 292.5 deg. The new object has been designated P/2012 F5 (GIBBS) by the Minor Planet Center.

Recovery of comet P/2005 JY126 (Catalina)
March 23, 2012
Cbet Circular No. 3065, issued on 2012, March 22, announces the recovery of comet P/2005 JY126 = P/2012 F4 (CATALINA) by our team; this comet was discovered on 2005, June 7.32 by Catalina Sky Survey and it was last observed on 2007, January 13.

SWAN Sungrazer Now In SOHO C2 Field
March 15, 2012
The newly discovered Comet SWAN has now entered the LASCO C2 instrument field on the SOHO spacecraft. This field observes closer to the Sun than the C3 instrument.

Watch Live as a Kreutz Sungrazing Comet Approaches the Sun
March 14, 2012
A few days ago Vladimir Bezugly noted a new comet in images taken with the SWAN instrument on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. The comet was located within 20 degrees of the Sun and appeared to be on a Kreutz sungrazing orbit that will take it within a few solar radii of the Sun’s surface. Unfortunately no ground-based observations were possible.

Unusual Minor Planet 2011 YU75
February 20, 2012
This unusual minor planet was discovered by the Spacewatch sky survey on 2011, Dec. 26. It moves along a very eccentric orbit (perihelion close to Mars, aphelion nearly 3 AU away from Saturn). Currently its about 1 AU from Earth and 2 AU from the Sun, approaching its perihelion, scheduled for the end of April 2012 (q= 1.7 AU).

New Comet: P/2012 C3 (PANSTARRS)
February 20, 2012
Cbet nr. 3021, issued on 2012, February 16, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 21.6) by Larry Denneau and Richard Wainscoat in four exposures taken with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS 1 telescope at Haleakala on February 15.3. The new comet has been designated P/2012 C3 (PANSTARRS).

New Comet: C/2012 C2 (BRUENJES)
February 14, 2012
Cbet nr. 3019, issued on 2012, February 12, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 15.3) by Manfred Bruenjes on 30-s CCD exposures taken on two nights with a 0.36-m f/2.0 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector on February 11.1 & 12.08. The new comet has been designated C/2012 C2 (BRUENJES).

New Comet: C/2012 C1 (McNAUGHT)
February 11, 2012
Cbet nr.3016, issued on 2012, February 11, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 18.8) by R. H. McNaught on CCD images obtained on February 5.5, 2012 taken with the 0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring. The new comet has been designated C/2012 C1 (McNAUGHT).

New Comet: C/2012 B3 (LA SAGRA)
February 04, 2012
Cbet nr. 3012, issued on 2012, February 04, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 18.3) on CCD images taken with the 0.45-m f/2.8 reflector at La Sagra, Spain on January 29.1, 2012. The apparently asteroidal object was later noted by Jaime Nomen on La Sagra images taken on Jan. 30.2 to be a possible comet with slight diffuseness. The new comet has been designated C/2012 B3 (LA SAGRA).

New Comet: P/2011 VJ5 (LEMMON)
February 03, 2012
Cbet nr. 3010, issued on 2012, February 03, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 18.5) by R. E. Hill on CCD images obtained on February 01.4, 2012 taken with the Catalina Sky Surveys 0.68-m Schmidt telescope. The new comet has been designated P/2011 VJ5 (LEMMON).

Catching a Comet Death On Camera
January 24, 2012
On July 6, 2011, a comet was caught doing something never seen before: die a scorching death as it flew too close to the sun. That the comet met its fate this way was no surprise -- but the chance to watch it first-hand amazed even the most seasoned comet watchers.

New comet C/2012 A2 (LINEAR)
January 19, 2012
C/2012 A2 (LINEAR) was discovered by the LINEAR survey on 2012, Jan. 15.41 with a 1.0-m f/2.15 reflector + CCD located near Socorro, New Mexico. It was subsequently placed on the NEO Confirmation Page, where other observatories (including me at 204, P. Birtwhistle from Great Shefford-J95, H. Sato remotely from GRAS-H06 and R. Holmes et al. from H21-ARI) confirmed it as a comet.

Comet C/2011 UF305 (LINEAR)
January 02, 2012
2011 UF305 was discovered by the LINEAR survey on 2011, Oct. 31.07, and subsequently placed on the NEO Confirmation Page. It was confirmed by several observatories and MPEC 2011-V16 was released on Nov. 3.

New comet C/2011 Y3 (Boattini)
December 30, 2011
C/2011 Y3 (Boattini) was discovered by Andrea Boattini on 2011, Dec. 25.24 with the 1.5-m f/2 reflector + CCD from Mount Lemmon Sky Survey (part of the Catalina Sky Survey). He described the comet as being very diffuse with central condensation: four 30-s exposures show a 6 arcsec coma and a wide fan-shaped tail about 30 arcsec long in p.a. 240-245 deg.

New comet P/2011 Y2 (Boattini)
December 29, 2011
P/2011 Y2 (Boattini) was discovered by Andrea Boattini on 2011, Dec. 24.12 with the 1.5-m f/2 reflector + CCD from Mount Lemmon Sky Survey (part of the Catalina Sky Survey). He described the comet as having a very condensed 5 arcsec coma and no sign of a tail in 3 arcsec seeing.