The brighter comets of 2005

2015 July 20

Jonathan Shanklin

This report describes and analyses observations of the brighter or more interesting comets discovered or at perihelion during 2005, concentrating on those with visual observations. Magnitude parameters are given for all comets with observations. Information on other comets seen during the year may be found on the Comet Section web page.

Introduction
During the year 53 comets were assigned year designations and 20 previously numbered periodic comets returned to perihelion. 191 comets were discovered from the SOHO satellite; of these 159 were members of the Kreutz group, 14 were members of the Meyer group, five of the Marsden group, one of the Kracht group and 12 were not associated with any known group. In addition four comets were found in archival SOLWIND images. There were two amateur discoveries, those of 2005 N1 by Charles Juels and Paulo Holvorcem, and 2005 T5 by John Broughton, for which they gained the Edgar Wilson Award. Six periodic comets were numbered. One naked eye comet was visible during the year.
Orbital elements for all the comets discovered and returning during the year can be found on the JPL Small-Body Database Browser, which will also generate ephemerides. Discovery details and some information for the other comets found or returning during the year are available on the Section web pages, which also contain links to additional background information. Additional images of the comets are presented in the Section image archive. (Continued…)