List of non-periodic comets

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Non-periodic comets are defined for these purposes as comets that have an orbital period of 200 years or more, including single-apparition comets that pass through the inner solar system only once. They are usually on near-parabolic orbits that will not return to the vicinity of the Sun for thousands of years, if ever. (Note that some use the term "non-periodic comet" to refer to exclusively to comets that will never return to the vicinity of the Sun.)

The official names of non-periodic comets begin with a "C"; comets that have been lost or disappeared have names that begin with a "D". An example of the latter is Comet Lexell (D/1770 L1), which is known to have been probably ejected from the Solar system by Jupiter.

The following is a partial list of non-periodic comets that have appeared in the solar system:

Contents

[edit] After 1910 (alphabetical)

Comet Discoverer(s) or Namesake, Date of discovery
Comet Arend-Roland (C/1956 R1, 1957 III, 1956h) Arend and Roland, November 8, 1956
Comet Beljawsky (C/1911 S3, 1911 IV, 1911g) Beljawsky, September 29, 1911
Comet Bennett (C/1969 Y1, 1970 II, 1969i) Bennett, December 28, 1969
Comet Bradfield (C/2004 F4) Bradfield, April 12, 2004
Comet Brooks (C/1911 O1, 1911 V, 1911c) Brooks, July 21, 1911
Comet de Kock-Paraskevopoulos (C/1941 B2, 1941 IV, 1941c) de Kock, January 15, 1941 and Paraskevopoulos, January 23, 1941
Eclipse Comet (C/1948 V1, 1948 XI, 1948l) First spotted during the Nairobi total solar eclipse of November 1, 1948 (magnitude about −2)
Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) Hale and Bopp, July 23, 1995 one of only four comets known to have had a negative absolute magnitude (−2.7)
Comet Humason (C/1961 R1, 1962 VIII, 1961e) Humason, September 1, 1961
Comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2) Hyakutake, January 30, 1996
Comet Ikeya-Seki (C/1965 S1, 1965 VIII, 1965f) Ikeya, Seki, September 18, 1965
Comet Kohoutek (C/1973 E1, 1973 XII, 1973f) Kohoutek, March 7, 1973
Comet LONEOS (C/2007 F1) LONEOS, March 19, 2007
Comet Machholz (C/2004 Q2) Machholz, August 27, 2004
Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1, Great Comet of 2007) Robert McNaught, August 7, 2006 (max. brightness −5m)
Comet McNaught-Russell (C/1993 Y1, 1994 XI, 1993v) Robert H. McNaught, Kenneth S. Russell December 17, 1993
Comet Mrkos (C/1957 P1, 1957 V, 1957d) Mrkos, July 29, 1957
Comet NEAT (C/2001 Q4) NEAT, August 24, 2001
Comet Pojmański (C/2006 A1) Pojmański, January 2, 2006
Comet Seki-Lines (C/1962 C1, 1962 III, 1962c, Reitberg-Blakesen, Khokhlov ) Seki and Lines, February 4, 1962
Comet Skjellerup-Maristany (C/1927 X1, 1927 IX, 1927k) Skjellerup, November 28, 1927, and Maristany, December 6, 1927
Comet Skorichenko-George (C/1989 Y1, 1990 VI, 1989e1) Skorichenko and George, December 17, 1989
Great Southern Comet (C/1947 X1, 1947 XII, 1947n) December 7, 1947
Comet SWAN (C/2006 M4) Matson and Mattiazzo, June 20, 2006
Comet West (C/1975 V1, 1976 VI, 1975n) West, August 10, 1975
Comet White-Ortiz-Bolelli (C/1970 K1, 1970 VI, 1970f) White, May 18, 1970, Ortiz, May 21, 1970, and Bolelli, May 22, 1970
Comet Wilson-Hubbard (C/1961 O1, 1961 V, 1961d, Drakesen, Portlock-Weinberg) Wilson and Hubbard, July 23, 1961
Comet Zhu-Balam (C/1997 L1) Zhu (June 3, 1997) and Balam (June 8, 1997 [1])

[edit] 1910 and earlier (chronological)

Comet Discoverer(s) or Namesake, Date of discovery
X/1106 C1 (Great Comet of 1106) February 2, 1106. One of the Kreutz Sungrazers, split in two.
C/1577 V1 (Great Comet of 1577) (1577 I) November 1, 1577 absolute magnitude −1.8, one of only four comets known to have had a negative absolute magnitude
C/1652 Y1 van Riebeeck, 17 December 1652 (Cape Town, South Africa)
Kirch's Comet (C/1680 V1) Kirch, November 14, 1680 (first telescopic discovery of a comet)
C/1686 R1 van der Stel, August 12, 1686 (Cape Town, South Africa)
C/1689 X1 van der Stel, November 24, 1689 (Cape Town, South Africa)
Great Comet of 1729 (C/1729 P1, 1729, Comet Sarabat) Sarabat, August 1, 1729 absolute magnitude −3.0, one of only four comets known to have had a negative absolute magnitude
C/1743 X1 (1744, Comet Klinkenberg-de Chéseaux) Klinkenberg, December 9, 1743, and de Chéseaux, December 13, 1743 (orbit computer) became brighter than Jupiter and in March 1744 exhibited no less than six tails
C/1746 P1 (1747, Comet de Chéseaux) de Chéseaux, August 13, 1746 absolute magnitude −0.5, one of only four comets known to have had a negative absolute magnitude
Great Comet of 1760 (C/1760 A1, 1759 III, Parisian Comet) January 7, 1760, approached Jupiter to within 0.054 AU in 1758 [2]
Great Comet of 1771 (C/1771 A1, 1770 II) January 9, 1771
Great Comet of 1783 (C/1783 X1, 1784) de la Nux, December 15, 1783
Great Comet of 1807 (C/1807 R1, 1807) Giovanni, September 9, 1807
Great Comet of 1811 (C/1811 F1) Flaugergues, March 25, 1811
Great Comet of 1819 (C/1819 N1, 1819 II, Comet Tralles) Tralles, July 1, 1819
Great Comet of 1823 (C/1823 Y1, 1823) December 24, 1823
Comet Pons (C/1825 N1, 1825 IV) Pons, July 18, 1825
Great Comet of 1830 (C/1830 F1, 1830 I) Faraguet, March 16, 1830 (Mauritius) and Fallows, March 20, 1830 (Cape Town, South Africa)
Great Comet of 1831 (C/1831 A1, 1830 II) Herapath, January 7, 1831 (1)
Great March Comet of 1843 (C/1843 D1, 1843 I) February 5, 1843
Great Comet of 1844 (C/1844 Y1, 1844 III) December 17, 1844
Great June Comet of 1845 (C/1845 L1, 1845 III) June 2, 1845
Comet Hind (C/1847 C1, 1847 I) Hind, February 6, 1847
Miss Mitchell's Comet (C/1847 T1, 1847 VI) Mitchell, October 1, 1847
Comet Klinkerfues (C/1853 L1, 1853 III) Klinkerfues, June 11, 1853
Great Comet of 1854 (C/1854 F1, 1854 II) March 23, 1854
Comet Donati (C/1858 L1, 1858 VI) Donati, June 2, 1858
Great Comet of 1860 (C/1860 M1, 1860 III) June 18, 1860
Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1) A. E. Thatcher of New York, April 5, 1861
Great Comet of 1861 (C/1861 J1, 1861 II) Tebbutt, May 13, 1861
Great Southern Comet of 1865 (C/1865 B1, 1865 I) January 17, 1865
Comet Coggia (C/1874 H1, 1874 III) Coggia, April 17, 1874
Great Southern Comet of 1880 (C/1880 C1, 1880 I) February 1, 1880
Great Comet of 1881 (C/1881 K1, 1881 III, 1881b) Tebbutt, May 22, 1881
Comet Wells (C/1882 F1, 1882 I, 1882a) Wells, March 18, 1882
Great September Comet of 1882 (C/1882 R1, 1882 II, 1882b) September 1, 1882; the first astronomer to see it was Finlay. It reached an estimated magnitude −17 (C/1882 R1, C/1945 X1 (du Toit) and C/1965 S1 may be the fragments of X/1106 C1)
Great Southern Comet of 1887 (C/1887 B1, 1887 I, 1887a) Thome, January 18, 1887, "The Headless Wonder"
Great Comet of 1901 (C/1901 G1, 1901 I, 1901a) April 23, 1901
Great January Comet of 1910 (C/1910 A1)
(not to be confused with the 1910 apparition of 1P/Halley)
Observed by many on the morning of January 12, 1910, the first astronomer to see it was Innes

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