List of periodic comets
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The following is the IAU's list of periodic comets that have a number designation.
Periodic comets have orbital periods of less than 200 years or have been observed during more than a single perihelion passage (e.g. 153P/Ikeya-Zhang). They receive a permanent number prefix only after the second perihelion passage, which is why there are a number of unnumbered periodic comets, such as P/1990 V1 (Comet Shoemaker-Levy 1). For a list of unnumbered periodic comets see Cometography.com.
In nearly all cases, comets are named after their discoverer(s), but in a few cases such as 2P/Encke and 27P/Crommelin they were named for a person who calculated their orbits (the orbit computers). The orbits of periodic comets are especially tricky to calculate because of all the possible perturbations from every planet, and in the days before electronic computers some people dedicated their entire careers to this. Even so, quite a few comets were lost because their orbits are also affected by non-gravitational effects such as the release of gas and other material that forms the comet's coma and tail.
Periodic comets sometimes bear the same name repeatedly (e.g. the nine Shoemaker-Levy comets or the twenty-three NEAT comets); the IAU system distinguishes between them either through the number prefix (as in the table below) or by the full designation (e.g. P/1990 V1 and P/1991 V1 are both "Comet Shoemaker-Levy"). In the literature, an informal numbering system is applied to periodic comets (skipping the non-periodic ones), thus P/1990 V1 and P/1991 V1 are known as Comet Shoemaker-Levy 1 and Comet Shoemaker-Levy 6, respectively. Non-periodic Shoemaker-Levy comets are interleaved in this sequence: C/1991 B1 between 2 and 3, C/1991 T2 between 5 and 6, C/1993 K1 and C/1994 E2 after Shoemaker-Levy 9. Gaps appear in the table below (e.g. Comet Barnard 1) when periodic comets are destroyed (they disintegrate, hit a planet like Jupiter, or are ejected from the solar system); thus Comet Barnard 1 is D/1884 O1, last seen on November 20, 1884.
In comet nomenclature, the letter before the "/" is either "C" (a non-periodic comet), "P" (a periodic comet), "D" (a comet which has been lost or has disintegrated), or "X" (a comet for which no reliable orbit could be calculated —usually historical comets).
| Comet | Discoverer(s) or Namesake |
|---|---|
| 1P/Halley | Halley |
| 2P/Encke | Encke |
| 3D/Biela | Biela |
| 4P/Faye | Faye |
| 5D/Brorsen | Brorsen |
| 6P/d'Arrest | d'Arrest |
| 7P/Pons-Winnecke | Pons & Winnecke |
| 8P/Tuttle | Tuttle |
| 9P/Tempel (Tempel 1) | Tempel |
| 10P/Tempel (Tempel 2) | Tempel |
| 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR | Tempel & Swift & LINEAR |
| 12P/Pons-Brooks | Pons & Brooks |
| 13P/Olbers | Olbers |
| 14P/Wolf | Wolf |
| 15P/Finlay | Finlay |
| 16P/Brooks (Brooks 2) | Brooks |
| 17P/Holmes | Holmes |
| 18D/Perrine-Mrkos | Perrine & Mrkos |
| 19P/Borrelly | Borrelly |
| 20D/Westphal | Westphal |
| 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | Giacobini & Zinner |
| 22P/Kopff | Kopff |
| 23P/Brorsen-Metcalf | Brorsen & Metcalf |
| 24P/Schaumasse | Schaumasse |
| 25D/Neujmin (Neujmin 2) | Neujmin |
| 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup | Grigg & Skjellerup |
| 27P/Crommelin | Crommelin |
| 28P/Neujmin (Neujmin 1) | Neujmin |
| 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (Schwassmann-Wachmann 1) | Schwassmann & Wachmann |
| 30P/Reinmuth (Reinmuth 1) | Reinmuth |
| 31P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (Schwassmann-Wachmann 2) | Schwassmann & Wachmann |
| 32P/Comas Solá | Comas Solá |
| 33P/Daniel | Daniel |
| 34D/Gale | Gale |
| 35P/Herschel-Rigollet | Herschel & Rigollet |
| 36P/Whipple | Whipple |
| 37P/Forbes | Forbes |
| 38P/Stephan-Oterma | Stephan & Oterma |
| 39P/Oterma | Oterma |
| 40P/Väisälä (Väisälä 1) | Väisälä |
| 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak | Tuttle & Giacobini & Kresak |
| 42P/Neujmin (Neujmin 3) | Neujmin |
| 43P/Wolf-Harrington | Wolf & Harrington |
| 44P/Reinmuth (Reinmuth 2) | Reinmuth |
| 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková | Honda & Mrkos & Pajdušáková |
| 46P/Wirtanen | Wirtanen |
| 47P/Ashbrook-Jackson | Ashbrook & Jackson |
| 48P/Johnson | Johnson |
| 49P/Arend-Rigaux | Arend & Rigaux |
| 50P/Arend | Arend |
| 51P/Harrington | Harrington |
| 52P/Harrington-Abell | Harrington & Abell |
| 53P/Van Biesbroeck | Van Biesbroeck |
| 54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT | de Vico & Swift & NEAT |
| 55P/Tempel-Tuttle | Tempel & Tuttle |
| 56P/Slaughter-Burnham | Slaughter & Burnham |
| 57P/du Toit-Neujmin-Delporte | du Toit & Neujmin & Delporte |
| 58P/Jackson-Neujmin | Jackson & Neujmin |
| 59P/Kearns-Kwee | Kearns & Kwee |
| 60P/Tsuchinshan (Tsuchinshan 2) | Tsuchinshan |
| 61P/Shajn-Schaldach | Shajn & Schaldach |
| 62P/Tsuchinshan (Tsuchinshan 1) | Tsuchinshan |
| 63P/Wild (Wild 1) | Wild |
| 64P/Swift-Gehrels | Swift & Gehrels |
| 65P/Gunn | Gunn |
| 66P/du Toit | du Toit |
| 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko | Churyumov & Gerasimenko |
| 68P/Klemola | Klemola |
| 69P/Taylor | Taylor |
| 70P/Kojima | Kojima |
| 71P/Clark | Clark |
| 72P/Denning-Fujikawa | Denning & Fujikawa |
| 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (Schwassmann-Wachmann 3) | Schwassmann & Wachmann |
| 74P/Smirnova-Chernykh | Smirnova & Chernykh |
| 75D/Kohoutek | Kohoutek |
| 76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura | West & Kohoutek & Ikemura |
| 77P/Longmore | Longmore |
| 78P/Gehrels (Gehrels 2) | Gehrels |
| 79P/du Toit-Hartley | du Toit & Hartley |
| 80P/Peters-Hartley | Peters & Hartley |
| 81P/Wild (Wild 2) | Wild |
| 82P/Gehrels (Gehrels 3) | Gehrels |
| 83P/Russell (Russell 1) | Russell |
| 84P/Giclas | Giclas |
| 85P/Boethin | Boethin |
| 86P/Wild (Wild 3) | Wild |
| 87P/Bus | Bus |
| 88P/Howell | Howell |
| 89P/Russell (Russell 2) | Russell |
| 90P/Gehrels (Gehrels 1) | Gehrels |
| 91P/Russell (Russell 3) | Russell |
| 92P/Sanguin | Sanguin |
| 93P/Lovas (Lovas 1) | Lovas |
| 94P/Russell (Russell 4) | Russell |
| 95P/Chiron = minor planet 2060 Chiron | Kowal |
| 96P/Machholz (Machholz 1) | Machholz |
| 97P/Metcalf-Brewington | Metcalf & Brewington |
| 98P/Takamizawa | Takamizawa |
| 99P/Kowal (Kowal 1) | Kowal |
| 100P/Hartley (Hartley 1) | Hartley |
| 101P/Chernykh | Chernykh |
| 102P/Shoemaker (Shoemaker 1) | C. Shoemaker & E. Shoemaker |
| 103P/Hartley (Hartley 2) | Hartley |
| 104P/Kowal (Kowal 2) | Kowal |
| 105P/Singer Brewster | Singer Brewster |
| 106P/Schuster | Schuster |
| 107P/Wilson-Harrington = minor planet 4015 Wilson-Harrington | Helin & Wilson & Harrington |
| 108P/Ciffreo | Ciffreo |
| 109P/Swift-Tuttle | Swift & Tuttle |
| 110P/Hartley (Hartley 3) | Hartley |
| 111P/Helin-Roman-Crockett | Helin & Roman & Crockett |
| 112P/Urata-Niijima | Urata & Niijima |
| 113P/Spitaler | Spitaler |
| 114P/Wiseman-Skiff | Wiseman & Skiff |
| 115P/Maury (Maury 1) | Maury |
| 116P/Wild (Wild 4) | Wild |
| 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu (Helin-Roman-Alu 1) | Helin & Roman & Alu |
| 118P/Shoemaker-Levy (Shoemaker-Levy 4) | C. Shoemaker, E. Shoemaker & Levy |
| 119P/Parker-Hartley | Parker & Hartley |
| 120P/Mueller (Mueller 1) | Mueller |
| 121P/Shoemaker-Holt (Shoemaker-Holt 2) | C.Shoemaker, E.Shoemaker & Holt |
| 122P/de Vico | de Vico |
| 123P/West-Hartley | West & Hartley |
| 124P/Mrkos | Mrkos |
| 125P/Spacewatch (Spacewatch 1) | Spacewatch |
| 126P/IRAS | IRAS |
| 127P/Holt-Olmstead | Holt & Olmstead |
| 128P/Shoemaker-Holt (Shoemaker-Holt 1) | C. Shoemaker, E. Shoemaker & Holt |
| 129P/Shoemaker-Levy (Shoemaker-Levy 3) | C. Shoemaker, E. Shoemaker & Levy |
| 130P/McNaught-Hughes | McNaught & Hughes |
| 131P/Mueller (Mueller 2) | Mueller |
| 132P/Helin-Roman-Alu (Helin-Roman-Alu 2) | Helin & Roman & Alu |
| 133P/Elst-Pizarro = minor planet 7968 Elst-Pizarro | Elst & Pizarro |
| 134P/Kowal-Vávrová | Kowal & Vávrová |
| 135P/Shoemaker-Levy (Shoemaker-Levy 8) | C. Shoemaker, E. Shoemaker & Levy |
| 136P/Mueller (Mueller 3) | Mueller |
| 137P/Shoemaker-Levy (Shoemaker-Levy 2) | C. Shoemaker, E. Shoemaker & Levy |
| 138P/Shoemaker-Levy (Shoemaker-Levy 7) | C. Shoemaker, E. Shoemaker & Levy |
| 139P/Väisälä-Oterma | Väisälä & Oterma |
| 140P/Bowell-Skiff | Bowell & Skiff |
| 141P/Machholz (Machholz 2) | Machholz |
| 142P/Ge-Wang | Ge & Wang |
| 143P/Kowal-Mrkos | Kowal & Mrkos |
| 144P/Kushida | Kushida |
| 145P/Shoemaker-Levy (Shoemaker-Levy 5) | C. Shoemaker, E. Shoemaker & Levy |
| 146P/Shoemaker-LINEAR | C. Shoemaker, E. Shoemaker & LINEAR |
| 147P/Kushida-Muramatsu | Kushida & Muramatsu |
| 148P/Anderson-LINEAR | Anderson & LINEAR |
| 149P/Mueller (Mueller 4) | Mueller |
| 150P/LONEOS (LONEOS 3) | LONEOS |
| 151P/Helin | Helin |
| 152P/Helin-Lawrence | Helin & Lawrence |
| 153P/Ikeya-Zhang | Ikeya & Zhang |
| 154P/Brewington | Brewington |
| 155P/Shoemaker (Shoemaker 3) | C. Shoemaker & E. Shoemaker |
| 156P/Russell-LINEAR | Russell & LINEAR |
| 157P/Tritton | Tritton |
| 158P/Kowal-LINEAR | Kowal & LINEAR |
| 159P/LONEOS (LONEOS 7) | LONEOS |
| 160P/LINEAR (LINEAR 43) | LINEAR |
| 161P/Hartley-IRAS | Hartley & IRAS |
| 162P/Siding Spring (Siding Spring 2) | Siding Spring |
| 163P/NEAT (NEAT 21) | NEAT |
| 164P/Christensen (Christensen 2) | Christensen |
| 165P/LINEAR (LINEAR 10) | LINEAR |
| 166P/NEAT (NEAT 8) | NEAT |
| 167P/CINEOS | CINEOS |
| 168P/Hergenrother (Hergenrother 1) | Hergenrother |
| 169P/NEAT (NEAT 22) | NEAT |
| 170P/Christensen (Christensen 4) | Christensen |
| 171P/Spahr (Spahr 2) | Spahr |
| 172P/Yeung | Yeung |
| 173P/Mueller (Mueller 5) | Mueller |
| 174P/Echeclus = minor planet 60558 Echeclus | Spacewatch |
| 175P/Hergenrother (Hergenrother 2) | Hergenrother |
| 176P/LINEAR (LINEAR 52) = minor planet 1999 RE70 = (118401) LINEAR | LINEAR |
| 177P/Barnard (Barnard 2) | Barnard |
| 178P/Hug-Bell | Hug & Bell |
| 179P/Jedicke | |
| 180P/NEAT | |
| 181P/Shoemaker-Levy (Shoemaker-Levy 6) |
