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Non-periodic comets are seen on only one occasion. They are usually on near-parabolic orbits that will not return to the vicinity of the Sun for thousands of years, if ever.
The official names of non-periodic comets (defined as comets with orbital periods of 200 years or more) begin with a "C"; comets that have been lost or disappeared have names that begin with a "D". An example of the latter is Comet Lexell (D/1770 L1), which is known to have been ejected from the solar system by Jupiter.
The following is a partial list of non-periodic comets that have appeared in the solar system:
After 1910 (alphabetical)
| Comet | Discoverer(s) or Namesake, Date of discovery |
|---|---|
| Comet Arend-Roland (C/1956 R1, 1957 III, 1956h) | Arend and Roland, November 8, 1956 |
| Comet Beljawsky (C/1911 S3, 1911 IV, 1911g) | Beljawsky, September 29, 1911 |
| Comet Bennett (C/1969 Y1, 1970 II, 1969i) | Bennett, December 28, 1969 |
| Comet Brooks (C/1911 O1, 1911 V, 1911c) | Brooks, July 21, 1911 |
| Comet de Kock-Paraskevopoulos (C/1941 B2, 1941 IV, 1941c) | de Kock, January 15, 1941 and Paraskevopoulos, January 23, 1941 |
| Eclipse Comet (C/1948 V1, 1948 XI, 1948l) | First spotted during the Nairobi total solar eclipse of November 1, 1948 (magnitude about −2) |
| Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) | Hale and Bopp, July 23, 1995 one of only four comets known to have had a negative absolute magnitude (−2.7) |
| Comet Humason (C/1961 R1, 1962 VIII, 1961e) | Humason, September 1, 1961 |
| Comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2) | Hyakutake, January 30, 1996 |
| Comet Ikeya-Seki (C/1965 S1, 1965 VIII, 1965f) | Ikeya, Seki, September 18, 1965 |
| Comet Kohoutek (C/1973 E1, 1973 XII, 1973f) | Kohoutek, March 7, 1973 |
| Comet Machholz (C/2004 Q2) | Machholz, August 27, 2004 |
| Comet Mrkos (C/1957 P1, 1957 V, 1957d) | Mrkos, July 29, 1957 |
| Comet Pojmański (C/2006 A1) | Pojmański, January 2, 2006 |
| Comet Seki-Lines (C/1962 C1, 1962 III, 1962c, Reitberg-Blakesen, Khokhlov) | Seki and Lines, February 4, 1962 |
| Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (D/1993 F2, 1994 X, 1993e) | E. Shoemaker, C. Shoemaker, Levy, March 24, 1993 |
| Comet Skjellerup-Maristany (C/1927 X1, 1927 IX, 1927k) | Skjellerup, November 28, 1927, and Maristany, December 6, 1927 |
| Comet Skorichenko-George (C/1989 Y1, 1990 VI, 1989e1) | Skorichenko and George, December 17, 1989 |
| Great Southern Comet (C/1947 X1, 1947 XII, 1947n) | December 7, 1947 |
| Comet SWAN (C/2006 M4) | R. D. Matson and M. Mattiazzo, June 20, 2006 |
| Comet West (C/1975 V1, 1976 VI, 1975n) | West, August 10, 1975 |
| Comet White-Ortiz-Bolelli (C/1970 K1, 1970 VI, 1970f) | White, May 18, 1970, Ortiz, May 21, 1970, and Bolelli, May 22, 1970 |
| Comet Wilson-Hubbard (C/1961 O1, 1961 V, 1961d, Drakesen, Portlock-Weinberg) | Wilson and Hubbard, July 23, 1961 |
| Comet Zhu-Balam (C/1997 L1) | Zhu (June 3, 1997) and Balam (June 8, 1997 ) |
1910 and earlier (chronological)
| Comet | Discoverer(s) or Namesake, Discovery date |
|---|---|
| C/1577 V1 (1577 I) | November 1, 1577 absolute magnitude −1.8, one of only four comets known to have had a negative absolute magnitude |
| C/1652 Y1 | van Riebeeck, 17 December, 1652 (Cape Town, South Africa) |
| Kirch's Comet (C/1680 V1) | Kirch, November 14, 1680 (first telescopic discovery of a comet) |
| C/1686 R1 | van der Stel, August 12, 1686 (Cape Town, South Africa) |
| C/1689 X1 | van der Stel, November 24, 1689 (Cape Town, South Africa) |
| Great Comet of 1729 (C/1729 P1, 1729, Comet Sarabat) | Sarabat, August 1, 1729 absolute magnitude −3.0, one of only four comets known to have had a negative absolute magnitude |
| C/1743 X1 (1744, Comet Klinkenberg-de Chéseaux) | Klinkenberg, December 9, 1743, and de Chéseaux, December 13, 1743 (orbit computer) became brighter than Jupiter and in March 1744 exhibited no less than six tails |
| C/1747 P1 (1747, Comet de Chéseaux) | de Chéseaux, August 13, 1746 absolute magnitude −0.5, one of only four comets known to have had a negative absolute magnitude |
| Great Comet of 1760 (C/1760 A1, 1759 III, Parisian Comet) | January 7, 1760, approached Jupiter to within 0.054 AU in 1758 |
| Comet Lexell (D/1770 L1) | June 14, 1770, by Messier, but named for Lexell, who first calculated its orbit |
| Great Comet of 1771 (C/1771 A1, 1770 II) | January 9, 1771 |
| Great Comet of 1783 (C/1783 X1, 1784) | de la Nux, December 15, 1783 |
| Great Comet of 1807 (C/1807 R1, 1807) | Giovanni, September 9, 1807 |
| Great Comet of 1811 (C/1811 F1) | Flaugergues, March 25, 1811 |
| Great Comet of 1819 (1819 II, Comet Tralles) | Tralles, July 1, 1819 |
| Great Comet of 1823 (C/1823 Y1, 1823) | December 24, 1823 |
| Comet Pons (C/1825 N1, 1825 IV) | Pons, July 18, 1825 |
| Great Comet of 1830 (C/1830 F1, 1830 I) | Faraguet, March 16, 1830 (Mauritius) and Fallows, March 20, 1830 (Cape Town, South Africa) |
| Great Comet of 1831 (C/1831 A1, 1830 II) | Herapath, January 7, 1831 () |
| Great March Comet of 1843 (C/1843 D1, 1843 I) | February 5, 1843 |
| Great Comet of 1844 (C/1844 Y1, 1844 III) | December 17, 1844 |
| Great June Comet of 1845 (C/1845 L1, 1845 III) | June 2, 1845 |
| Comet Hind (C/1847 C1, 1847 I) | Hind, February 6, 1847 |
| Miss Mitchell's Comet (C/1847 T1, 1847 VI) | Mitchell, October 1, 1847 |
| Comet Klinkerfues (C/1853 L1, 1853 III) | Klinkerfues, June 11, 1853 |
| Great Comet of 1854 (C/1854 F1, 1854 II) | March 23, 1854 |
| Comet Donati (C/1858 L1, 1858 VI) | Donati, June 2, 1858 |
| Great Comet of 1860 (C/1860 M1, 1860 III) | June 18, 1860 |
| Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1) | A. E. Thatcher of New York, April 5, 1861 |
| Great Comet of 1861 (C/1861 J1, 1861 II) | Tebbutt, May 13, 1861 |
| Great Southern Comet of 1865 (C/1865 B1, 1865 I) | January 17, 1865 |
| Comet Coggia (C/1874 H1, 1874 III) | Coggia, April 17, 1874 |
| Great Southern Comet of 1880 (C/1880 C1, 1880 I) | February 1, 1880 |
| Great Comet of 1881 (C/1881 K1, 1881 III, 1881b) | Tebbutt, May 22, 1881 |
| Great Comet of 1882 (C/1882 F1, 1882 I, 1882a) | Wells, March 18, 1882 |
| Great September Comet of 1882 (C/1882 R1, 1882 II, 1882b) | September 1, 1882, reached an estimated magnitude −17 (C/1882 R1, C/1945 X1 (du Toit) and C/1965 S1 may be the fragments of X/1106 C1) |
| Great Southern Comet of 1887 (C/1887 B1, 1887 I, 1887a) | Thome, January 18, 1887, "The Headless Wonder" |
| Great Comet of 1901 (C/1901 G1, 1901 I, 1901a) | April 23, 1901 |
| Great January Comet of 1910 (C/1910 A1) (not to be confused with the 1910 apparition of 1P/Halley) |
Observed by many on the morning of January 12, 1910, the first astronomer to see it was Innes |
See also
External links
- Bright Comet Chronicles from JPL's website
- 1994 Resolution about comet names
- Converter between old-style and new-style comet names
- Kronk's Cometography