During the 2-month period June through July 2018, 7 new comets were discovered, cometary activity was detected for 1 previously discovered object (earlier designated as asteroids) and there was 1 comet recovery. "Current comet magnitudes" & "Daily updated asteroid flybys" pages are available at the top of this blog (or just click on the underline text here). See below for the "Other news" section.
The dates below refer to the date of issuance of CBET (Central Bureau Electronic Telegram) which reported the official news & designations.
- Comet Discoveries
Jun 09 Discovery of P/2018 L1 (PANSTARRS) (CBET 4521)
Jun 09 Discovery of C/2018 L2 (ATLAS) (CBET 4522)
Jun 22 Discovery of P/2018 L4 (PANSTARRS) (CBET 4527)
Jul 02 Discovery of P/2018 L5 (LEONARD) (CBET 4528)
Jul 02 Discovery of C/2018 M1 (CATALINA) (CBET 4529)
Jul 07 Discovery of C/2018 N1 (NEOWISE) (CBET 4532)
Jul 16 Discovery of C/2018 N2 (ASASSN) (CBET 4534)
- Cometary activity detected
Jun 11 Cometary activity detected in 2018 EN4 = C/2018 EN4 (NEOWISE)
- Comet Recoveries
Jun 14 Recovery of P/2005 R1 (NEAT) as P/2018 L3 (CBET 4526)
- Other news
Jun 01 A New Impact Crater – Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) keeps finding new impact sites on Mars. This one occurred within the dense secondary crater field of Corinto Crater.
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| Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona |
Jun 02 Small Asteroid 2018 LA (aka ZLAF9B2) IMPACTED Earth on 02 June 2018
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| Credit: (CREDIT: Mt. Lemmon Survey - CSS). |
Jun 07 New paper on Arxiv by Kokotanekova et al.: "Implications of the Small Spin Changes Measured for Large Jupiter-Family Comet Nuclei".
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| Credit: Kokotanekova et al |
Jun 09 CBET 4523 & CBET 4536 (Jul 20) report that the following minor planets are binaries systems: (15745) YULIYA & (4666) DIETZ
Jun 12 New paper on Arxiv by Masiero et al.: "Small and Nearby NEOs Observed by NEOWISE During the First Three Years of Survey: Physical Properties".
Jun 14 JAXA Hayabusa2 spacecraft starts sending images of asteroid (162173) Ryugu. Below you can see some images taken from a distance of 700km on June 14, 2018 and from a distance of about 6km on July 20, 2018.
Jun 14 JAXA Hayabusa2 spacecraft starts sending images of asteroid (162173) Ryugu. Below you can see some images taken from a distance of 700km on June 14, 2018 and from a distance of about 6km on July 20, 2018.
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| Credit: JAXA |
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| Credit: Jaxa |
Jun 26 An asteroid impact triggered an avalanche on Mars as imaged by HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
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| Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona |
Jun 27 New results indicate interstellar nomad `Oumuamua is a comet. The first interstellar object discovered in the Solar System, is moving away from the Sun faster than expected.
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| Credit: Micheli et al. |
Jul 13 Radar images of the binary asteroid 2017 YE5 via @AreciboRadar & Green Bank Observatory on June 25 show it consists of two separate objects in orbit around each other that are roughly the same size.
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| Credit: Arecibo/GBO/NSF/NASA/JPL-Caltech |
Jul 17 Jupiter has 10 more moons we didn't know about — and they're weird. The planet now has 79 known moons, including a tiny oddball on a collision course with its neighbours.
Jul 20 Comet C/2017 S3 (PANSTARRS) imaged by Michael Jaeger on July 20, 2018 @ Jauerling, Austria.
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| Credit: M. Jaeger |
by Ernesto Guido
