The brighter comets of 2007

2016 March 22

Jonathan Shanklin

Two hundred and thirty two comets were assigned year designations and eighteen previously numbered periodic comets returned to perihelion. 176 comets were discovered from the SOHO satellite; of these 155 were members of the Kreutz group, ten were members of the Meyer group, one of the Marsden group, two of the Kracht group and eight were not associated with any known group. There were two amateur discoveries (2007 E2 and K5) for which Terry Lovejoy gained the Edgar Wilson Award. Twelve periodic comets were numbered. Three comets were reported as visible by the naked eye 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. The raw visual observations for the year are on the Section Web pages in ICQ format. Additional images of the comets are presented in the Section image archive.

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