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Revision as of 14:37, 2 December 2006 by Seventeen12 (talk | contribs) (added comet victor)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)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)
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" |
| Comet Victor | Giovanni DonCara, March 9, 1898 |
| 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