Comets in 2014
You can now buy the recently released book, Fall of a Thousand Suns: How Near Misses and Comet Impacts affected the Religious Beliefs of our Ancestors. It is available through iBooks and Amazon.
This website simply lists information about specific comets and meteor showers. The book, however, thoroughly investigates how ancient impacts and near misses changed religious beliefs around the world. The book is the result of years of research and countless interviews with astrophysicists, scientists and religious scholars. After reading it, you won't look at comets, meteor showers or religion in the same way.
A Closer Look at Some Comets that will reach Perihelion in 2014
Between one hundred billion and two trillion comets are thought to
exist in our solar system. As of March 9, 2014, only 3,790 comets have
been observed and named. Let's take a closer look at some comets that
may be visible to the naked eye in 2014 or are otherwise newsworthy. |
Comet Neujmin 2 (Perihelion Mar 13, 2014) |
On February 24, 1916, George van Biesbroeck (Yerkes
Observatory) spotted a comet with an apparent magnitude of 11. It was a
Jupiter-Family comet with an orbit of 5.43 years. This comet has not
been observed since its apparition in 1927. Due to its disappearance,
it's known as 25D / Nuejmin 2, meaning it's a "lost" comet.
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Comet Holmes Mar 27, 2014) |
Over the
course of 42 hours in October of 2007, Comet Holmes (17P/Holmes) became a
half million times brighter on its way to becoming the largest object
in the solar system - larger than the Sun, or Brad Pitt's ego, if only
for a brief time. Holmes is one of the more prominent comets in 2014.
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Comet 209P / LINEAR (May 6, 2014) |
Russian
astronomer, Mikhail Maslov, believes Earth will pass through the tail
of Comet 209P / LINEAR between 7:00 and 8:00 UT on May 24, 2014. It
could result in a meteor storm producing between 100 and 400 meteors an
hour. Viewing conditions will be particular good in Canada and the
United States. Circle this date on your calendar.
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Comet Faye (May 29, 2014) |
Comey Faye
(4P/Faye) was discovered in 1844 by a French astronomer. It was the
first periodic comet to be named after its discoverer and not the
individual who determined its orbit. This comet will reach perihelion a
couple days after Comet Holmes in 2014.
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Comet Brooks 2 (June 7, 2014) |
The
fragmentation of Comet Brooks 2 is believed to have been caused by a
close pass to Jupiter in 1886, when it passed .001 AU from Jupiter. The
gravity of the planet tore the comet into fragments. The fragmented
comet was observed for the first time, in recorded history, three years
later on July 7, 1889.
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Comet 289P / Blanpain (Aug 28, 2014) |
On November
28, 1819 Jean-Jacques Blanpain discovered a comet. It was designated C /
1819 W1. After this apparition the comet was "lost" and remained
unobserved for nearly 200 years. In 2005, a recently discovered
asteroid matched the orbital path and period of C/1819 W1. It also had
a faint coma, meaning it probably was an nearly-exhausted comet. The
object was officially renamed Comet 289P / Blanpain in July of 2013.
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Comet Siding Spring (Oct 25, 2014) |
There is
currently a 1 and 120,000 chance that Comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1)
will hit Mars on October 19, 2014. Based on Leonid Elenin's recent
observations, Comet Siding Spring will pass 0.000276 AU (41,300 km,
25,700 miles) from the surface of Mars. For comparison, the average
distance between the Earth and Moon is .00257 AU (384,400 km, 238,900
miles).
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Comet Finlay (Dec 27, 2014) |
On October 27, 2060 Comet Finlay will pass 0.048 AU from Earth
(JPL, 2014). That's the equivalent of 4,500,000 miles or 7,200,000
kilometers. For reference, the average distance between Earth and the
Moon is 0.002 AU.
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Soho Comets (Various perihelion dates in 2014) |
Dozens of tiny, sungrazing comets are expected to return to
tightly orbit the Sun in 2014 or end their lives in its corona. These
comets will probably only be observable from space observatories like
SOHO and LASCO. The general public can comb through movies and images
captured by SOHO, attempting to discover comets in 2014.
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A List of all Comets that will reach Perihelion in 2014
All comets no matter how faint, provided they experience their
perihelion in 2014, are listed below alongside the day of discovery,
next perihelion,
orbital period, diameter and apparent magnitude. Each column is
sortable. Simply click on the arrows at the top of each column.| Formal Name | Informal Name | Discovery | Next Perihelion |
Orbit (yrs) |
Diameter | Apparent Magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 286P/Christensen | Comet Christensen (286P) | 2005/06/03 | 2014/01/06 | 8.35 | 20 | |
| 293P/Spacewatch | Comet Spacewatch (293P) | 2006/11/15 | 2014/01/10 | 6.92 | 18 | |
| C/2007 R2 | Comet Gibbs (2007 R2) | 2007/09/10 | 2014/01/15 | 20 | ||
| 292P/Li | Comet Li | 2014/02/04 | 14 | |||
| 107P/Wilson-Harrington | Comet Wilson-Harrington | 1979/11/15 | 2014/02/05 | 4.29 | 4.0 km | 16 |
| 129P/Shoemaker-Levy | Comet Shoemaker-Levy (129P) | 1991/02/07 | 2014/02/11 | 8.96 | 19 | |
| C/2013 N3 | Comet PanSTARRS (2013 N3) | 2013/07/06 | 2014/02/12 | 21 | ||
| 169P/NEAT | Comet NEAT | 1989/03/07 | 2014/02/15 | 15 | ||
| C/2013 P2 | Comet PanSTARRS (2013 P2) | 2014/02/17 | 18 | |||
| C/2012 X1 | Comet LINEAR(2012 X1) | 2014/02/21 | 12 | |||
| C/2007 H3 | Comet Garradd (2007 H3) | 2014/03/01 | 18 | |||
| C/2008 A2 | Comet LINEAR (2008 A2) | 2014/03/05 | 16 | |||
| 52P/Harrington-Abell | Comet Harrington-Abell | 1955/03/22 | 2014/03/07 | 7.53 | 2.6 km | 12 |
| 290P/Jager | Comet Jager | 1998/10/24 | 2014/03/12 | 15.03 | 11 | |
| 25D/Neujmin | Comet Neujmin | 1916/02/24 | 2014/03/13 | 5.43 | 9 | |
| C/2002 R5 | Comet SOHO (2002 R5) | 2014/03/15 | ||||
| C/2013 G7 | Comet McNaught (2013 G7) | 2014/03/16 | 17 | |||
| C/2003 Q1 | Comet SOHO (2003 Q1) | 2014/03/22 | ||||
| 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu | Comet Helin-Roman-Alu (117P) | 1989/10/02 | 2014/03/27 | 8.29 | 14 | |
| 17P/Holmes | Comet Holmes | 1892/11/07 | 2014/03/27 | 6.88 | 3.42 km | 17 |
| 119P/Parker-Hartley | Comet Parker-Hartley | 1989/03/02 | 2014/04/02 | 8.84 | 15 | |
| 124P/Mrkos | Comet Mrkos | 1991/03/16 | 2014/04/09 | 6.04 | 15 | |
| C/1996 X5 | Comet SOHO (1996 X5) | 2014/04/09 | ||||
| C/2003 Q6 | Comet SOHO (2003 Q6) | 2014/04/14 | ||||
| C/1996 X3 | Comet SOHO (1996 X3) | 2014/04/15 | ||||
| C/2013 P5 | Comet PanSTARRS (2013 P5) | 2014/04/15 | 21 | |||
| 156P/Russell-LINEAR | Comet Russell-LINEAR | 1986/09/03 | 2014/04/16 | 6.82 | 18 | |
| C/2001 Q11 | Comet NEAT (2001 Q11) | 2014/04/23 | 19 | |||
| 191P/McNaught | Comet McNaught (191P) | 2000/08/05 | 2014/05/06 | 6.64 | 18 | |
| 209P/LINEAR | Comet LINEAR (209P) | 2004/02/03 | 2014/05/06 | 5.09 | 11 | |
| C/2002 AR2 | Comet LINEAR (2002 AR2) | 2014/05/15 | 17 | |||
| 134P/Kowal-Vavrova | Comet Kowal-Vavrova | 1983/05/08 | 2014/05/21 | 15.55 | 12 | |
| 132P/Helin-Roman-Alu | Comet Helin-Roman-Alu (132P) | 1989/10/30 | 2014/05/21 | 8.28 | 15 | |
| 4P/Faye | Comet Faye | 1843/11/23 | 2014/05/29 | 7.55 | 3.54 km | 13 |
| C/2005 JQ5 | Comet Catalina (2005 JQ5) | 2014/05/30 | 17 | |||
| 16P/Brooks 2 | Comet Brooks 2 | 1889/07/07 | 2014/06/07 | 6.14 | 15 | |
| 181P/Shoemaker-Levy | Comet Shoemaker-Levy (181P) | 1991/11/06 | 2014/06/10 | 7.53 | 12 | |
| 222P/LINEAR | Comet LINEAR (222P) | 2004/12/07 | 2014/07/04 | 4.83 | 15 | |
| C/2012 U1 | Comet PanSTARRS (2012 U1) | 2014/07/05 | 18 | |||
| 75D/Kohoutek | Comet Kohoutek | 1975/02/09 | 2014/07/09 | 15 | ||
| 72D/Denning-Fujikawa | Comet Denning-Fujikawa | 1881/10/19 | 2014/07/11 | 13 | ||
| 106P/Schuster | Comet Schuster | 1977/10/09 | 2014/07/20 | 7.31 | 14 | |
| C/2003 O3 | Comet LINEAR (2003 O3) | 2014/07/24 | 19 | |||
| C/2013 P4 | Comet PanSTARRS (2013 P4) | 2014/08/08 | 19 | |||
| 210P/Christensen | Comet Christensen (210P) | 2003/05/26 | 2014/08/17 | 5.71 | 11 | |
| C/2012 K8 | Comet Lemmon (2012 K8) | 2014/08/19 | 18 | |||
| C/2002 S4 | Comet SOHO (2002 S4) | 2014/08/23 | ||||
| C/2008 Q2 | Comet Ory (2008 Q2) | 2014/08/24 | 18 | |||
| C/2011 S1 | Comet Gibbs (2011 S1) | 2014/08/26 | 22 | |||
| 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR | Comet Tempel-Swift-LINEAR | 2014/08/26 | 6.37 | 18 | ||
| C/2012 K1 | Comet PanSTARRS (2012 K1) | 2014/08/27 | 6 | |||
| 206P/Barnard-Boattini | Comet Barnard-Boattini | 1892/10/16 | 2014/08/27 | 5.81 | 19 | |
| 289P/Blanpain | Comet Blanpain | 2003/10/25 | 2014/08/28 | 5.32 | 11 | |
| C/2008 J2 | Comet Beshore | 2014/08/30 | 14 | |||
| C/2013 J1 | Comet McNaught (2013 J1) | 2014/09/02 | 17 | |||
| C/2007 H1 | Comet McNaught (2007 H1) | 2014/09/02 | 14 | |||
| C/2001 BB50 | Comet LINEAR-NEAT (2001 BB50) | 2014/09/03 | 19 | |||
| 170P/Christensen | Comet Christensen (170P) | 2005/06/17 | 2014/09/18 | 8.63 | 18 | |
| C/2003 U3 | Comet NEAT (2003 U3) | 2014/10/15 | 17 | |||
| 32P/Comas Sola | Comet Comas Sola | 1926/11/06 | 2014/10/17 | 8.8 | 8.4 km | 13 |
| 108P/Ciffreo | Comet Ciffreo | 1985/11/08 | 2014/10/18 | 7.26 | 3.2 km | 12 |
| 70P/Kojima | Comet Kojima | 1970/12/27 | 2014/10/20 | 3.0 km | 17 | |
| C/2013 A1 | Comet Siding Spring | 2014/10/25 | 8 | |||
| 135P/Shoemaker-Levy | Comet Shoemaker-Levy (135P) | 2014/11/01 | 7.50 | 3.8 km | 17 | |
| 80P/Peters-Hartley | Comet Peters-Hartley | 1982/07/11 | 2014/11/10 | 14 | ||
| C/2013 G3 | Comet PanSTARRS (2013 G3) | 2014/11/10 | 18 | |||
| 269P/Jedicke | Comet Jedicke | 1993/10/12 | 2014/11/14 | 19.25 | 17 | |
| 40P/Vaisala | Comet Vaisala | 1939/02/08 | 2014/11/15 | 4.2 km | 15 | |
| C/2004 V1 | Comet Skiff (2004 V1) | 2014/11/20 | 17 | |||
| C/2013 P3 | Comet Palomar (2013 P3) | 2014/11/23 | 19 | |||
| 193P/LINEAR-NEAT | Comet LINEAR-NEAT (193P) | 2001/08/17 | 2014/11/24 | 6.56 | 16 | |
| 110P/Hartley | Comet Hartley | 2014/12/17 | 12 | |||
| C/2000 QJ46 | Comet LINEAR (2000 QJ46) | 2014/12/20 | 16 | |||
| 15P/Finlay | Comet Finlay | 1886/09/26 | 2014/12/27 | 6.75 | 9 | |
| 287P/Christensen | Comet Christensen (287P) | 2014/12/28 | 18 |
Related Links:
- Comets in 2013
- Comets in 2015
- Comets in 2016
- Comets in 2017
- List of Periodic Comets
- List of Non-Periodic Comets
- Brightest Comets in 20th Century
- Brightest Comets in 21st Century
- Brightest Comets in History
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