SOHO Comets 2006

The table list the provisional SOHO number for the comet, the day (UT) and month of the first (discovery) observation, the year and comet identification, the LASCO coronagraph on which it was discovered, the discoverer (additional names are independent discoverers), with the number of their discoveries given in brackets following the name, and finally the date of discovery. Note that provisional numbers may be changed if the comet is not confirmed and do not necessarily match those given on the SOHO web pages.

SOHO Observed   Des C  G  Observers				Discovered
1082 05/12/1996 X5  C2 R  Rainer Kracht				(January 2)
1086 02/01/2006 A4  C3 K  Rob Matson				(January 2)
1087 04/01/2006 A5  C3 K  Tony Hoffman				(January 4)
1088 10/01/2006 A6  C3 K  Tony Hoffman				(January 10)
1089 12/01/2006 A7  C3 K  Steve Farmer, Michele Mazzucato	(January 12)
1090 20/01/2006 B2  C3 K  Hua Su				(January 20)
1091 22/01/2006 B3  C3 K  Rainer Kracht				(January 22)
1092 26/01/2006 B4  C2 Y  Hua Su				(January 26)
1093 26/01/2006 B5  C3 K  Rob Matson				(January 26)
1094 30/01/2006 B6  C3 K  Karl Battams, Quanzhi Ye		(January 30)
X    30/08/1996     C3 K  Rainer Kracht				(February 2)
1095 03/09/1996 R5  C3 K  Rainer Kracht				(February 2)
1097 07/02/2006 C1  C3 K  Rob Matson				(February 7)
1098 09/02/2006 C2  C3 K  Steve Farmer				(February 9)
1099 10/02/2006 C3  C3 K  Steve Farmer				(February 10)
1096 31/07/1997 O3  C3 K  Rainer Kracht				(February 14)
1100 16/02/2006 D2  C3 K  Hua Su				(February 16)
1101 06/11/1997 V8  C3 K  Rainer Kracht				(February 18)
1103 19/02/2006 D3  C3 K  Steve Farmer, Quanzhi Ye		(February 20)
1104 21/02/2006 D4  C3 K  Hua Su				(February 21)
1105 27/02/2006 D5  C3 K  Sebastian Hoenig, Bo Zhou		(February 27)
1106 28/02/2006 D6  C3 K  Steve Farmer				(February 28)
1102 11/04/1998 G9  C2 Y  Rainer Kracht				(March 6)
1115 02/06/1998 L10 C2 K  Rainer Kracht				(March 9)
1107 14/11/1997 V9  C2 O  Rainer Kracht				(March 11)
1108 15/12/1997 X7  C2 Y  Rainer Kracht				(March 12)
1111 13/03/2006 E3  C3 K  Hua Su, Bo Zhou			(March 13)
1112 15/03/2006 E4  C2 K  Tony Hoffman				(March 15)
1113 15/03/2006 E2  C3 D  Rob Matson				(March 15)
1109 30/11/1998 W8  C2 K  Rainer Kracht				(March 16)
1110 14/10/1998 T2  C3 K  Rainer Kracht				(March 18)
1114 21/03/2006 F5  C3 K  Michele Mazzucato			(March 21)
1116 22/03/2006 F6  C2 Y  Tony Hoffman				(March 22)
1117 26/03/2006 F3  C2 D  Tony Hoffman				(March 26)
1118 28/03/2006 F7  C2 K  Rob Matson				(March 28)
1119 29/03/2006 F8  C3 K  Hua Su				(March 29)
XC54 08/04/2006     C2 K  Jiangao Ruan				(April 8)
1120 11/04/2006 G2  C2 K  Tony Hoffman				(April 11)
1121 14/04/2006 G3  C2 K  John Sachs, Hua Su			(April 14)
1122 17/04/2006 H2  C2 K  Hua Su				(April 17)
1123 19/04/2006 H3  C2 K  Karl Battams				(April 19)
1124 21/04/2006 H4  C3 K  Adam Ambrus (1)			(April 21)
1125 24/04/2006 H5  C2 K  Hua Su				(April 24)
1126 28/04/2006 H6  C3 K  Hua Su, John Sachs			(April 28)
1127 03/05/2006 J1  C2 K  Hua Su				(May 3)
1128 04/05/2006 J2  C2 K  Tony Hoffman, Piaoyang Cui, Hua Su	(May 4)
1129 04/05/2006 J3  C2 K  Hua Su				(May 4)
1130 07/05/2006 J4  C3 K  Karl Battams				(May 8)
1131 08/05/2006 J5  C3 Y  Hua Su				(May 8)
1132 08/05/2006 J6  C2 K  Rob Matson, John Sachs		(May 8)
U    10/05/2006     C3 K  Rob Matson				(May 10)
1133 10/05/2006 J7  C2 K  Tony Hoffman				(May 10)
1134 10/05/2006 J8  C2 K  Tony Hoffman				(May 10)
1135 10/05/2006 J9  C2 K  Hua Su, Tao Chen			(May 10)
1136 11/05/2006 J10 C2 K  Tony Hoffman				(May 11)
1137 11/05/2006 J11 C2 K  John Sachs				(May 11)
1138 15/05/2006 J12 C2 K  Guoyou Sun, Mike Boschat		(May 15)
1139 17/05/2006 K6  C3 K  Rob Matson				(May 17)
1140 18/05/2006 K7  C2 K  Luciano Cane, Guoyou Sun		(May 18)
1141 18/05/2006 K8  C2 K  Bo Zhou, Rob Matson			(May 18)
1142 19/05/2006 K9  C2 K  Rob Matson				(May 19)
1143 20/05/2006 K10 C2 K  Wentao Xu, Hua Su, Guoyou Sun		(May 20)
1144 12/05/1998 J5  C2 K  Hua Su				(May 20)
1147 22/05/2006 K5  C3 O  Hua Su				(May 22)
1145 22/05/2006 K11 C2 K  Hua Su				(May 22)
1146 22/05/2006 K12 C2 K  Hua Su, Rob Matson, Michele Mazzucato	(May 22)
1148 24/05/2006 K13 C2 K  Guoyou Sun				(May 24)
1149 24/05/2006 K14 C2 K  Rob Matson				(May 24)
1150 25/05/2006 K15 C2 K  Tao Chen				(May 25)
1151 25/05/2006 K16 C2 K  Rob Matson				(May 25)
1152 25/05/2006 K17 C2 K  Rob Matson				(May 25)
1153 26/05/2006 K18 C2 K  Guoyou Sun				(May 26)
1157 12/12/1999 X3  C2 O  Hua Su				(May 26)
1154 29/05/2006 K19 C2 K  Hua Su				(May 29)
1155 29/05/2006 K20 C2 K  Tao Chen, Hua Su, Guoyou Sun		(May 29)
1156 29/05/2006 K21 C3 K  Vladimir Bezugly			(May 29)
1157 01/06/2006 L3  C2 K  Guoyou Sun				(June 2)
1160 14/11/1999 V5  C2 K  Hua Su				(June 3)
1159 05/06/2006 L4  C2 K  Wentao Xu				(June 5)
1161 08/06/2006 L5  C2 K  Hua Su				(June 8)
1162 08/06/2006 L6  C2 K  Guoyou Sun				(June 9)
1163 10/06/2006 L7  C2 K  Tony Hoffman, Hua Su			(June 10)
1164 14/06/2006 L8  C2 K  Hua Su				(June 14)
1165 16/06/2006 M5  C2 K  Tao Chen, John Sachs			(June 16)
1166 19/06/2006 M6  C2 K  Tony Hoffman, Gouyou Sun, Tao Chen	(June 19)
1167 22/06/2006 M7  C2 K  Hua Su				(June 22)
1168 27/06/2006 M9  C2 K  Tao Chen, Hua Su, Piaoyang Cui	(June 27)
1169 25/06/2006 M8  C2 K  Hua Su				(June 27)
1170 20/06/2006 M4  SW O  Rob Matson, Michael Mattiazzo		(July 5)
1171 11/07/2006 N1  C3 K  Steve Farmer				(July 11)
1172 13/07/2006 N2  C3 K  Hua Su				(July 13)
XC56 14/07/2006     C2 K  Tony Hoffman				(July 14)
1173 14/07/2006 N3  C3 K  Wentao Xu				(July 14)
1174 17/07/2006 O3  C3 K  Tony Hoffman				(July 17)
1175 20/07/2006 O4  C3 K  Hua Su				(July 20)
1176 21/07/2006 O5  C3 K  Hua Su				(July 21)
1177 23/07/2006 O6  C3 K  Hua Su				(July 23)
1178 25/07/2006 O7  C3 K  Hua Su				(July 25)
1179 26/07/2006 O8  C3 K  Hua Su				(July 26)
1180 01/08/2206 P2  C3 K  Arkadiusz Kubczak (1)			(August 1)
1181 02/08/2006 P3  C3 K  Arkadiusz Kubczak			(August 2)
1182 02/08/2006 P4  C3 K  Shihong Yuan (1)			(August 2)
1183 03/08/2006 P5  C3 K  Hua Su				(August 3)
1184 03/08/2006 P6  C3 K  Hua Su				(August 3)
U    03/08/2006     C3 K  Shihong Yuan				(August 3)
1185 04/08/2006 P7  C3 K  Arkadiusz Kubczak			(August 4)
1186 02/09/2006 R3  C2 Y  Hua Su				(September 2)
1187 11/09/2006 R4  C3 K  Tony Hoffman				(September 11)
1188 18/09/2006 S7  C3 K  Rob Matson				(September 18)
1189 18/09/2006 S8  C3 K  Rob Matson				(September 18)
1190 18/09/2006 S9  C3 K  Rob Matson				(September 18)
1191 18/09/2006 S10 C3 K  Rob Matson				(September 18)
1192 18/09/2006 S11 C3 K  Rob Matson				(September 18)
U    18/09/2006     C3 K  Tony Hoffman				(September 18)
1193 26/09/2006 S12 C3 K  Rob Matson				(September 26)
1194 30/09/2006 S13 C3 K  Hua Su				(October 2)
1195 02/10/2006 T2  C3 K  Rob Matson				(October 2)
1196 03/10/2006 T3  C2 K  Hua Su, Vladimir Bezugly		(October 3)
1197 03/10/2006 T4  C2 K  Guoyou Sun, Tao Chen			(October 3)
1198 06/10/2006 T5  C2 K  Wentao Xu, Guoyou Sun			(October 6)
1199 10/10/2006 T6  C2 O  Bo Zhou				(October 10)
1200 10/10/2006 T7  C2 K  Bo Zhou				(October 10)
1201 15/10/2006 T8  C3 K  Tony Hoffman				(October 15)
1202 15/10/2006 T9  C2 K  Tony Hoffman				(October 16)
1203 17/10/2006 U8  C2 K  Toni Scarmato, Tony Hoffman		(October 17)
1206 12/10/2006 T10 C2 K  Bo Zhou				(October 17)
1204 19/10/2006 U9  C3 K  Steve Farmer				(October 19)
1205 20/10/2006 U10 C2 Y  Tony Hoffman				(October 20)
1207 24/10/2006 U11 C3 K  Hua Su, Shihong Yuan			(October 24)
1208 24/10/2006 U12 C2 K  Tao Chen, Hua Su			(October 24)
1209 25/10/2006 U13 C2 K  Hua Su				(October 25)
1210 28/10/2006 U14 C3 K  Hua Su				(October 29)
1211 29/10/2006 U15 C2 K  Luciano Cane				(October 29)
1212 30/10/2006 U16 C2 K  Tao Chen, Rainer Kracht, Hua Su	(October 30)
XC55 17/10/2003     C2 K  Bo Zhou				(October 30)
1213 01/11/2006 V2  C3 K  John Sachs				(November 1)
1214 06/04/2003 G5  C2 K  Hua Su				(November 2)
1215 03/11/2006 V3  C2 K  Hua Su				(November 3)
1216 03/11/2006 V4  C3 K  Hua Su, Rob Matson			(November 3)
1217 22/01/2003 B3  C3 K  Hua Su				(November 5)
1218 07/11/2006 V5  C2 K  T Hoffman, W Xu, M Mazzucato		(November 7)
1219 07/11/2006 V6  C2 K  Hua Su				(November 7)
1220 08/11/2006 V7  C2 K  Hua Su, Vladimir Bezugly		(November 8)
1221 11/11/2006 V8  C2 K  Rainer Kracht, Hua Su			(November 11)
1222 13/11/2006 V9  C3 K  Bo Zhou				(November 13)
1223 13/11/2006 V10 C2 K  Hua Su, Rob Matson			(November 13)
1224 19/11/2006 W5  C2 K  Tony Hoffman				(November 19)
1225 19/11/2006 W6  C2 K  Tony Hoffman				(November 19)
1226 25/11/2006 W7  C2 K  Rainer Kracht, Michele Mazzucato	(November 25)
1227 08/03/2003 C6  C3 K  Rainer Kracht				(December 1)
1228 09/12/2006 X2  C2 K  Rainer Kracht				(December 9)
1229 10/12/2006 X5  C2 K  Maik Meyer				(December 10)
1230 10/12/2006 X4  C3 K  Tony Scarmato				(December 10)
1231 10/12/2006 X3  C2 K  Bo Zhou				(December 10)
1232 11/12/2006 X6  C2 K  Xing Gao				(December 11)
1233 11/12/2006 X7  C3 K  Hua Su				(December 12)
1234 12/12/2006 X8  C2 K  Bo Zhou				(December 12)
1235 15/12/2006 X9  C2 K  Tony Hoffman, Rainer Kracht		(December 15)
1236 15/12/2006 X10 C2 Y  Rainer Kracht				(December 15)
1237 15/12/2006 X11 C2 K  Rob Matson				(December 15)
1238 18/12/2006 Y3  C2 K  Shihong Yuan				(December 18)
1239 20/12/2006 Y4  C2 K  Rainer Kracht, Hua Su, Shihong Yuan	(December 20)
1240 20/12/2006 Y5  C3 K  Tony Hoffman				(December 20)
1241 21/12/2006 Y6  C3 K  Bo Zhou				(December 21)
1242 21/12/2006 Y8  C2 K  Rainer Kracht, Tony Hoffman		(December 21)
1243 21/12/2006 Y7  C2 K  Tony Hoffman				(December 21)
1244 21/12/2006 Y9  C2 K  Michele Mazzucato, Tony Scarmato	(December 21)
1245 23/12/2006 Y10 C3 K  Tony Hoffman, Hua Su			(December 23)
1246 24/12/2006 Y11 C3 K  Michele Mazzucato			(December 24)
1249 27/12/2006 Y12 C2 O  Rainer Kracht				(December 27)
1247 28/12/2006 Y13 C3 K  Wentao Xu				(December 28)
1248 28/12/2006 Y14 C2 K  Rainer Kracht				(December 28)
1250 29/12/2006 Y15 C3 K  Wentao Xu				(December 29)
1251 29/12/2006 Y17 C3 K  Hua Su				(December 29)
1252 29/12/2006 Y16 C2 K  Alan Watson (1)			(December 29)
The column headed Des is the half month or other designation of the comet. The column headed C gives the SOHO instrument (C2 or C3 for the LASCO coronagraphs or SW for SWAN) that the comet was discovered in. The column headed G indicates if it is a provisional member of the Kreutz group (K), Meyer group (Y), Marsden group (D), Kracht (R) or other comet (O). P in the SOHO number column indicates the discovery is pending, C indicates that it is confirmed, but not yet numbered, U indicates that is was not confirmed, X that it was confirmed, but there were insufficient observations.

Note that my observer count also includes X/ comets which are not counted as confirmed comets by the SOHO team. Where two or more people report discoveries nearly simultaneously, up to the first three observers are credited here. Where discoverers are clearly not following the SOHO or BAA Comet Section guidelines, they are not credited here at all. If initial reports don't include sufficient positions others may also be credited.

Official milestones:
100 Hua Su #1178 1000 Kreutz group member #1185

It is possible that there are further comets to be found in the archival data, most likely non-group comets. [This comment was made in preparing the 2006 page in late 2005, and confirmed almost immediately with Rainer Kracht's discovery of 6 Marsden & Kracht group members. It is clear from Hua Su's discoveries that there are still more to be found.]


Published by Jonathan Shanklin. Jon Shanklin - jds@ast.cam.ac.uk