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MPC/CBAT/ICQ

Astronomical Headlines

This page contains brief information on recent astronomical discoveries as reported in the International Astronomical Union Circulars (IAUCs) (published by the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams) and the Minor Planet Electronic Circulars (MPECs) (published by the Minor Planet Center), as well as links to ephemerides and orbital elements for comets and minor planets. The objects below are listed in chronological order of announcement, by category of object, the most recent first.

Note

You are strongly advised not to make direct links to pages beneath this page, other than links to `index.html' pages, as they may be temporary or be moved or renamed as circumstances dictate.

Some Press Information Sheets are available.

Comets

Links to other comet-related websites, previously listed here, have been moved to the International Comet Quarterly webpages.

  • Ephemerides and orbital elements for (potentially) observable comets.
  • Recent comet discoveries and recoveries:
    • Note that near-sun comets observed only from space are generally excluded from this listing.
    • P/2009 L2 (Yang-Gao). Discovered by amateur astronomers via CCD in China. IAUC 9052, 2009 June 16.
    • 221P/2009 L1 (LINEAR). Recovery of P/2002 JN16. IAUC 9051, 2009 June 7.
    • C/2009 K5 (McNaught). Discovered in the course of the Siding Spring survey. IAUC 9050, 2009 May 29.
    • C/2009 K4 (Gibbs). Discovered in the course of the Catalina survey. IAUC 9048, 2009 May 28.
    • C/2009 K3 (Beshore). Discovered in the course of the Mt. Lemmon survey. IAUC 9047, 2009 May 28.
    • C/2009 K2 (Catalina). Discovered in the course of the Catalina survey. IAUC 9045, 2009 May 19.
    • P/2009 K1 (Gibbs). Discovered in the course of the Mt. Lemmon survey. IAUC 9044, 2009 May 18.
    • 220P/2009 H2 (McNaught). Recovery of P/2004 K2. IAUC 9040, 2009 May 3.
    • 219P/2009 H1 (LINEAR). Recovery of P/2002 LZ11. IAUC 9039, 2009 Apr. 18.
    • 218P/2009 F7 (LINEAR). Recovery of P/2003 H4. IAUC 9038, 2009 Apr. 15.
    • C/2009 F6 (Yi-SWAN). Found on ultraviolet SWAN images at the SOHO website and also independently on CCD images by Korean amateur astronomer D. Yi. IAUC 9034 and 9035, 2009 Apr. 6-7.
    • C/2009 F5 (McNaught). Discovered in the course of the Siding Spring survey. IAUC 9033, 2009 Mar. 22.
    • C/2009 F4 (McNaught). Discovered in the course of the Siding Spring survey. IAUC 9032, 2009 Mar. 21.
    • 217P/2009 F3 (LINEAR). Recovery of P/2001 MD7. IAUC 9031, 2009 Mar. 20.
    • C/2009 F2 (McNaught). Discovered in the course of the Siding Spring survey. IAUC 9030, 2009 Mar. 20.
    • C/2009 F1 (Larson). Discovered in the course of the Mt. Lemmon survey. IAUC 9029, 2009 Mar. 19.
    • P/2008 CL94 (Lemmon). Discovered as asteroidal in early 2008 by the Mt. Lemmon survey, but found to show cometary appearance when rediscovered by the same survey in March 2009. IAUC 9028, 2009 Mar. 18.
    • C/2009 E1 (Itagaki). New amateur CCD discovery. IAUC 9026, 2009 Mar. 15.
    • 216P/2009 D1 (LINEAR). Recovery of P/2001 CV8 by J. V. Scotti. IAUC 9021, 2009 Feb. 20.
    • 215P/2009 B5 (NEAT). Recovery of P/2002 O8 by amateur astronomer Gary Hug in Kansas. IAUC 9018, 2009 Feb. 2.
    • 214P/2009 B4 (LINEAR). Recovery of P/2002 CW134 by amateur astronomer Gary Hug in Kansas. IAUC 9017, 2009 Feb. 1.
    • 213P/2009 B3 (Van Ness). Recovery of P/2005 R2 by amateur astronomer Gary Hug in Kansas. IAUC 9017, 2009 Feb. 1.
    • C/2009 B2 (LINEAR). Discovered as asteroidal by the LINEAR survey, but found to show cometary appearance at three different observatories. IAUC 9016, 2009 Jan. 31.
    • P/2008 WZ96 (LINEAR). Discovered as asteroidal in late 2008 by the LINEAR survey, but not found to show cometary appearance until Jan. 2009 at three different observatories. IAUC 9015, 2009 Jan. 30.
    • P/2009 B1 (Boattini). Discovery by A. Boattini via the Catalina Sky Survey IAUC 9013, 2009 Jan. 22.
    • 212P/2000 YN30 (NEAT). Discovered as asteroidal in 2000 by the NEAT survey, but not found to show cometary appearance until Jan. 2009 at three different observatories. IAUC 9010, 2009 Jan. 12.
    • P/2008 Y3 (McNaught). Discovery by R. H. McNaught via the Siding Spring Survey IAUC 9009, 2009 Jan. 1.
    • P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs). Discovery by A. R. Gibbs via the Catalina Sky Survey IAUC 9008, 2009 Jan. 1.
    • For comets announced prior to 2009, go to the older Headlines webpage.

Recent magnitude estimates for observable comets (as reported to the CBAT and the International Comet Quarterly).

Minor Planets, Dwarf Planets

  • 2009 HC82. An asteroidal object in a retrograde orbit. IAUC 9042, 2009 May 8.
  • 2009 DD45. An asteroidal object perhaps 19 meters in size that passed only 0.000482 AU from the earth on Mar. 2.57 UT. IAUC 9024, 2009 March 4.
  • 2008 TC3. An asteroidal object perhaps 2-3 meters in size, which was discovered at Mt. Lemmon on Oct. 6.28 UT, will hit the earth's atmosphere on Oct. 7.115 over Sudan, moving west to east (contrary to the wording on IAUC 8990) at a velocity of 12.9 km/s. 2008 Oct. 6. A computer-generated image (created by Syuichi Nakano, Sumoto, Japan) of the collision of 2008 TC3 with the earth is available here. Most (if not all) of the object was expected to burn up upon entry through the earth's atmosphere, though it is likely that some (perhaps many) smallpieces (a few cm or a few mm in size) survived to hit the ground as meteorites. A Meteosat 8 satellite image of the entry of 2008 TC3 into the earth's atmosphere over northern Sudan is available here (kindly supplied by Jiri Borovicka).
  • The name "Haumea" has been assigned to the transneptunian dwarf planet (or plutoid) whose designation is (136108) 2003 EL61. IAUC 8976, 2008 Sept. 17.
  • The name "Makemake" has been assigned to the transneptunian dwarf planet (or plutoid) whose designation is (136472) 2005 FY5. IAUC 8960, 2008 July 18.
  • 2008 KV42 is an apparently asteroidal object (discovered by B. Gladman et al. at Mauna Kea) with a retrograde orbit (i = 103 deg) and a Neptune-crossing orbit (q around 20 AU, Q around 72 AU). IAUC 8960, 2008 July 18.
  • 2007 VA85 is an apparently asteroidal object (discovered by the LINEAR project) with the shortest known orbital period (7.6 yr) for a sun-orbiting natural object with a retrograde orbit (i = 132.6 deg). IAUC 8894, 2007 Nov. 10.
  • Names have been assigned to (136199) 2003 UB313 and its satellite (IAUC 8747 [PDF]). [added 2006 Sept. 13]
  • (136199) Eris = 2003 UB313. Discovery of a transneptunian object of similar absolute brightness to Pluto (along with two other TNOs that are also relatively bright -- near 17th magnitude). IAUC 8577 and MPEC 2005-O41 (2005 July 29). Naming announced on IAUC 8747 (2006 Sept. 13).
  • For objects announced prior to 2006, go to the older Headlines webpage.
  • For recent discoveries/recoveries of Near-Earth Asteroids and other unusual minor planets you are referred to the list of recent MPECs:
  • For recent discoveries/recoveries of distant minor planets (Centaurs, TNOs, and SDOs) you are referred to the list of recent MPECs:
  • Ephemerides and orbital elements for critical-list numbered minor planets.

Recently Discovered Natural Satellites and Rings of Major and Minor Planets

  • New name/designation of satellite of Saturn (LIII), S/2008 S 1. IAUC 9041, 2009 May 5.
  • Transneptunian minor planet 2002 VF130 found to be binary. IAUC 9040, 2009 May 5.
  • S/ 2008 S 1, a new satellite of Saturn. IAUC 9023, 2009 March 3.
  • Two satellites of the main-belt minor planet (216) Kleopatra, S/2008 (216) 1 and S/2008 (216) 2. IAUC 8980, 2008 Sept. 24.
  • A satellite of the Apollo-type minor planet (35107) 1991 VH. IAUC 8977, 2008 Sept. 19.
  • Two companions to minor planet (153591) 2001 SN263. IAUC 8921, 2008 Feb. 13.
  • New names of satellites of Saturn (XLIX-LII).
  • List of satellites and companions of minor planets that have been announced on CBAT publications.
  • For objects announced prior to 2008, go to the older Headlines webpage.

Novae and other interesting or unusual variable objects

  • V5582 Sgr = Nova Sgr 2009 No. 2. Discovery by G. Sun and X. Gao in China. IAUC 9049, 2009 May 29.
  • V1213 Cen. Nova in Centaurus. IAUC 9043, 2009 May 18; CBET 1800, 2009 May 13.
  • Nova in the Large Magellanic Cloud 2009 No. 2. Discovery by William Liller in Chile. IAUC 9042, 2009 May 8.
  • V5581 Sgr = Nova Sgr 2009 No. 1. Discovery by K. Nishiyama and F. Kabashima in Japan. IAUC 9041, 2009 May 5.
  • Nova in the Large Magellanic Cloud 2009. Discovery by William Liller in Chile. IAUC 9019, 2009 Feb. 8.
  • M81N 2008-12b. Nova in M81. CBET 1653, 2009 Jan. 5.
  • For objects announced prior to 2009, go to the older Headlines webpage.
  • The CBAT's working list of novae in the Milky Way can be found here.
  • A list of (apparent) novae in M31 reported to the CBAT beginning in 2004 can be found here.
  • A list of (apparent) novae in M33 reported to the CBAT can be found here (webpage begun in early 2009).
  • A list of (apparent) novae in M81 reported to the CBAT can be found here (webpage begun in early 2009).

Supernovae

A list of recent supernovae is available, as is our on-line form for checking possible supernova candidates. David Bishop maintains a website showing images of recent supernovae.

The best guide for ephemerides for forthcoming periodic comet returns is the annual ICQ Comet Handbook. Predicted elements for returns up to three years into the future are published in the Minor Planet Circulars. Ephemerides for all currently-observable comets may be generated in the CBAT/MPC Computer Service.

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