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| Periodic Comet Names and Designations |
This list was compiled for the Planetary Data System Small Bodies Node (PDS SBN) to provide a cross reference between a periodic comet's official designation and its name. For completeness, it also includes the previous names by which a comet may have been known, as well as the Belyaev/Carusi catalog identification numbers.
To determine which objects to include in the list, we adopt the IAU definition for short-period comets. This includes all numbered periodic comets (those observed on at least two apparitions) and unnumbered comets whose orbital periods have been determined to be less than 200 years.
The initial list of periodic comets was extracted from the 2003 version of the Catalog of Cometary Orbits (Marsden & Williams). Periodic updates to this list are obtained from IAU Circulars, Minor Planet Electronic Circulars and Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams. The list is complete through the date given. A file containing the order in which the comets were designated as periodic (starting in 1995) is given here.
Note: When this list was initially compiled there were a number of entries for which the serial number in the PDS Name was incorrect. On January 13, 2006 these were corrected to reflect the proper order in which they were designated as periodic. A list of the changes is given here.
The original purpose of this list was to provide a database of unique names and designations for periodic comets that will simplify searches in the PDS system. It can be used in conjunction with the existing small bodies cross referencing system, which includes the old designations (e.g. 1986 III, 1982i) to provide a complete cross reference system for any given comet. Alternate names are included to account for all potential matches (e.g., a search for Shoemaker 2 should also return information regarding Shoemaker-LINEAR 1).
Official Orbital Time of PDS Name Belyaev / Previous
Designation Period Perihelion Carusi ID Name
148P/1963 W1 7.85 1963 Oct 28.5128 Anderson-LINEAR 1 Anderson
50P/1951 T1 7.76 1951 Nov 23.4090 Arend 1 52P/
49P/1951 C2 6.71 1950 Dec 18.9221 Arend-Rigaux 1 51P/
47P/1948 Q1 7.48 1948 Oct 4.7790 Ashbrook-Jackson 1 49P/
D/1884 O1 5.38 1884 Aug 16.9680 Barnard 1 508P/
P/1889 M1 145. 1889 Jun 21.2488 Barnard 2 510P/
D/1892 T1 6.52 1892 Dec 11.1746 Barnard 3 512P/
P/2001 W2 76.0 2001 Dec 23.9184 BATTERS 1
P/2005 V1 9.89 2005 Aug 14.171 Bernardi 1
3D/1826 D1 6.72 1826 Mar 18.9498 Biela 1 4P/
D/1819 W1 5.10 1819 Nov 20.8474 Blanpain 1 504P/
85P/1975 A1 11.0 1975 Jan 5.6148 Boethin 1 525P/
19P/1904 Y2 6.91 1905 Jan 17.2944 Borrelly 1 23P/
140P/1983 C1 15.7 1983 Mar 15.1936 Bowell-Skiff 1 543P/
P/1984 A1 151. 1983 Dec 27.7925 Bradfield 1 548P/
P/1989 A3 81.9 1988 Dec 5.2437 Bradfield 2
154P/1992 Q1 10.7 1992 Jun 7.7969 Brewington 1
D/1886 K1 5.44 1886 Jun 7.2122 Brooks 1 509P/
16P/1889 N1 7.07 1889 Sep 30.8540 Brooks 2 19P/
5D/1846 D2 5.57 1846 Feb 25.8685 Brorsen 1 6P/
23P/1847 O1 73.1 1847 Sep 10.0474 Brorsen-Metcalf 1 27P/
P/2005 T5 19.54 2005 Nov 3.5322 Broughton 1
87P/1981 E1 6.52 1981 Jun 11.3452 Bus 1 541P/
P/1999 V1 16.8 1999 Oct 25.0500 Catalina 1
P/1999 XN120 8.54 2000 May 1.5442 Catalina 2
P/2005 JQ5 4.42 2005 Jul 28.0340 Catalina 3
P/2005 JY126 7.27 2006 Feb 21.2830 Catalina 4
P/2005 N5 153.68 2005 Aug 22.6812 Catalina 5
P/2004 EW38 6.80 2003 Nov 19.8968 Catalina-LINEAR 1
P/2005 JD108 16.46 2005 Aug 6.2564 Catalina-NEAT 1
101P/1977 Q1 15.9 1978 Feb 14.9242 Chernykh 1 529P/
95P/1977 UB 50.7 1996 Feb 14.7458 Chiron
P/2003 K2 5.75 2003 Apr 7.8527 Christensen 1
164P/2004 Y1 6.91 2004 Jun 21.8935 Christensen 2
P/2005 L4 8.35 2005 Aug 24.6292 Christensen 3
170P/2005 M1 8.63 2006 Jan 26.7810 Christensen 4
P/2005 O2 115.5 2005 Sep 8.4038 Christensen 5
P/2005 T2 7.48 2005 Apr 11.2792 Christensen 6
P/2005 W2 82.9 2006 Mar 27.4898 Christensen 7
67P/1969 R1 6.55 1969 Sep 11.0372 Churyumov-Gerasimenko 1
108P/1985 V1 7.22 1985 Oct 30.0936 Ciffreo 1
167P/2004 PY42 64.8 2001 Apr 24. CINEOS 1
71P/1973 L1 5.52 1973 May 24.8836 Clark 1 72P/
32P/1926 V1 8.52 1927 Mar 22.1980 Comas Sola 1 35P/
27P/1928 W1 27.9 1928 Nov 4.9696 Crommelin 1 11P/
33P/1909 X1 6.48 1909 Nov 29.2276 Daniel 1 36P/
6P/1851 M1 6.39 1851 Jul 9.1767 d'Arrest 1 7P/
D/1894 F1 7.40 1894 Feb 9.9349 Denning 1 513P/
72P/1881 T1 8.71 1881 Sep 13.8318 Denning-Fujikawa 1 71P/ Denning
122P/1846 D1 76.1 1846 Mar 6.0467 de Vico 1 506P/
54P/1844 Q1 5.46 1844 Sep 2.9748 de Vico-Swift-NEAT 1 18P/ de Vico-Swift
66P/1944 K1 14.8 1944 Jun 17.4947 du Toit 1
79P/1945 G1 5.28 1945 Apr 18.7209 du Toit-Hartley 1 78P/ du Toit 2
57P/1941 O1 5.55 1941 Jul 21.2094 du Toit-Neujmin-Delporte 1 59P/
P/1921 H1 62.3 1921 May 5.3468 Dubiago 1 519P/
133P/1996 N2 5.61 1996 Apr 18.4794 Elst-Pizarro 1
2P/1818 W1 3.29 1819 Jan 27.7540 Encke 1 3P/
4P/1843 W1 7.44 1843 Oct 17.6437 Faye 1 5P/
15P/1886 S1 6.65 1886 Nov 22.8897 Finlay 1 17P/
37P/1929 P1 6.38 1929 Jun 26.0438 Forbes 1 40P/
34D/1927 L1 11.3 1927 Jun 14.5551 Gale 1 37P/
90P/1972 T1 14.5 1973 Jan 24.6712 Gehrels 1 524P/
78P/1973 S1 7.94 1973 Dec 1.6048 Gehrels 2 77P/
82P/1975 U1 8.11 1977 Apr 23.1910 Gehrels 3 527P/
P/1997 C1 17.4 1996 Jan 29.2065 Gehrels 4
142P/1988 V1 11.3 1988 May 23.9954 Ge-Wang 1
D/1896 R2 6.65 1896 Oct 28.5342 Giacobini 1 515P/
21P/1900 Y1 6.46 1900 Nov 28.4965 Giacobini-Zinner 1 24P/
84P/1931 R1 6.45 1931 Nov 18.9850 Giclas 1 535P/
26P/1922 K1 4.98 1922 May 15.6943 Grigg-Skjellerup 1 29P/
65P/1970 U2 6.80 1969 Apr 18.8866 Gunn 1 56P/
1P/1682 Q1 76.7 1682 Sep 15.2794 Halley 1
D/1978 R1 5.97 1978 Oct 9.4965 Haneda-Campos 1 534P/
51P/1953 P1 6.97 1953 Sep 22.1413 Harrington 1 53P/
52P/1955 F1 7.20 1954 Dec 12.8464 Harrington-Abell 1 54P/
D/1952 B1 6.36 1951 Oct 30.4145 Harrington-Wilson 1 522P/
100P/1985 L1 5.61 1985 Jun 11.6508 Hartley 1
103P/1986 E2 6.26 1985 Jun 4.8979 Hartley 2
110P/1988 D1 6.83 1987 Jul 15.7855 Hartley 3
161P/1983 V1 21.50 1984 Jan 8.7089 Hartley-IRAS 1 547P/
D/1766 G1 4.35 1766 Apr 27.909 Helfenzrieder 1 501P/
151P/1987 Q3 14.4 1987 Aug 12.1778 Helin 1
152P/1993 K2 9.45 1993 Jun 30.3453 Helin-Lawrence 1
117P/1989 T2 9.50 1987 Oct 12.3912 Helin-Roman-Alu 1
132P/1989 U1 8.20 1989 Oct 31.2948 Helin-Roman-Alu 2
111P/1989 A2 8.13 1988 Sep 13.3026 Helin-Roman-Crockett 1
P/1998 W2 6.91 1998 Dec 5.9476 Hergenrother 1
P/2000 C1 6.63 2000 Mar 19.8701 Hergenrother 2
168P/2005 N2 6.92 2005 Nov 2.4811 Hergenrother 3
P/1999 D1 13.8 1999 Feb 18.0263 Hermann 1
35P/1939 O1 155. 1939 Aug 9.464 Herschel-Rigollet 1 38P/
17P/1892 V1 6.90 1892 Jun 13.9509 Holmes 1 20P/
127P/1990 R2 6.16 1990 Oct 4.5084 Holt-Olmstead 1
45P/1948 X1 5.22 1948 Nov 17.7165 Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova 1 46P/
88P/1981 Q1 6.48 1981 May 4.3552 Howell 1 542P/
P/1999 X1 7.04 1999 Jun 20.8337 Hug-Bell 1
153P/2002 C1 364. 2002 Mar 18.9799 Ikeya-Zhang 1
126P/1983 M1 13.2 1983 Aug 23.7994 IRAS 1 546P/
58P/1936 S1 8.57 1936 Oct 3.3680 Jackson-Neujmin 1
P/1998 U3 14.9 1999 Mar 10.0703 Jager 1
P/1995 A1 14.3 1993 Aug 17.3790 Jedicke 1
P/1996 A1 19.3 1995 Aug 15.8941 Jedicke 2
48P/1949 Q1 6.86 1949 Sep 16.5221 Johnson 1 50P/
59P/1963 Q1 8.95 1963 Dec 7.0119 Kearns-Kwee 1 64P/
68P/1965 U1 10.9 1965 Aug 18.3607 Klemola 1
P/1997 B1 25.2 1997 Mar 2.3470 Kobayashi 1
75P/1975 C1 6.23 1975 Jan 18.1826 Kohoutek 1
70P/1970 Y1 6.16 1970 Oct 7.0530 Kojima 1
22P/1906 Q1 6.58 1906 May 3.1772 Kopff 1 26P/
P/1999 WJ7 10.0 2000 Feb 15.8316 Korlevic 1
P/1999 DN3 9.61 1998 Sep 30.8693 Korlevic-Juric 1
99P/1977 H2 15.0 1976 Dec 31.8474 Kowal 1 528P/
104P/1979 B1 6.43 1979 Jan 13.6980 Kowal 2 536P/
158P/2001 RG100 10.29 2002 Jul 25.7649 Kowal-LINEAR 1
143P/1984 H1 7.35 1984 Jun 8.3272 Kowal-Mrkos 1 551P/
134P/1983 J3 16.0 1983 Apr 1.7774 Kowal-Vavrova 1 544P/
P/2005 W3 16.2 2005 Aug 23.1142 Kowalski 1
144P/1994 A1 7.37 1993 Dec 12.8624 Kushida 1
147P/1993 X1 7.40 1993 Dec 10.2645 Kushida-Muramatsu 1
P/1996 R2 7.36 1997 Jan 19.3034 Lagerkvist 1
P/1997 T3 17.3 1998 Mar 11.2712 Lagerkvist-Carsenty 1
P/1997 V1 11.0 1997 Sep 15.1305 Larsen 1
P/2004 C1 39.6 2003 Mar 19.3321 Larsen 2
P/2004 H2 9.56 2004 May 10.9281 Larsen 3
P/2004 H3 7.68 2004 Mar 12.9259 Larsen 4
P/2005 N3 6.80 2005 Dec 10.5082 Larson 1
P/1991 L3 51.3 1991 Jul 8.1932 Levy 1
D/1770 L1 5.60 1770 Aug 14.0409 Lexell 1 502P/
P/1998 Y2 15.1 1998 Dec 17.8038 Li 1
P/1999 E1 65.9 1999 Jan 31.7121 Li 2
P/1998 G1 42.0 1998 Nov 16.6348 LINEAR 1
P/1998 VS24 9.56 1998 Nov 2.6568 LINEAR 2
P/1998 Y1 110. 1998 Nov 21.5775 LINEAR 3
P/1999 J5 9.45 1999 May 12.8467 LINEAR 4
P/1999 G1 133. 1998 Jul 31.9997 LINEAR 5
P/1999 S3 82.6 1999 Nov 9.0096 LINEAR 6
P/1999 U3 10.7 1999 Nov 18.4668 LINEAR 7
P/1999 XS87 72.8 1999 Aug 6.6066 LINEAR 8
P/2000 B3 8.01 2000 Feb 14.1605 LINEAR 9
165P/2000 B4 76.4 2000 Jun 14.7736 LINEAR 10
P/1999 XB69 9.40 2000 Feb 17.0403 LINEAR 11
P/2000 G1 5.36 2000 Mar 9.8095 LINEAR 12
P/2000 G2 53.6 2000 Feb 6.1533 LINEAR 13
P/2000 D2 71.9 2000 Mar 8.6123 LINEAR 14
P/2000 R2 6.10 2000 Sep 12.6574 LINEAR 15
P/2001 CV8 7.64 2001 Feb 12.2860 LINEAR 16
P/2001 MD7 7.91 2001 Nov 30.1327 LINEAR 17
P/2002 A1 77.7 2001 Dec 3.1796 LINEAR 18
P/2002 A2 76.6 2001 Dec 9.5822 LINEAR 19
P/2002 B1 31.2 2002 Apr 20.0112 LINEAR 20
P/2001 YX127 8.53 2003 Mar 6.9729 LINEAR 21
P/2002 CW134 6.84 2002 Feb 28.9405 LINEAR 22
P/2002 AR2 12.4 2002 Jan 16.5312 LINEAR 23
P/2002 EJ57 16.5 2001 Dec 19.1541 LINEAR 24
P/2002 JN16 6.50 2002 Jul 27.5942 LINEAR 25
P/2002 T1 6.67 2002 Oct 8.0852 LINEAR 26
P/2002 T5 18.46 2003 Jun 27.8626 LINEAR 27
P/2003 F1 93.91 2003 Jun 28.4234 LINEAR 28
P/2003 H4 6.10 2003 May 14.3025 LINEAR 29
P/2003 KV2 4.85 2003 Jul 10.8481 LINEAR 30
P/2003 HT15 9.88 2003 Apr 17.6844 LINEAR 31
P/2003 02 8.77 2003 Sep 5.8087 LINEAR 32
P/2003 03 5.47 2003 Aug 14.0639 LINEAR 33
P/2002 CE10 30.75 2003 Jun 22.0988 LINEAR 34
P/2003 R1 87.0 2003 Jun 29.5921 LINEAR 35
P/2003 U2 9.60 2003 Dec 4.8815 LINEAR 36
P/2003 U1 109.44 2003 Nov 3.3981 LINEAR 37
P/2002 LZ11 6.99 2003 Mar 15.6630 LINEAR 38
P/2003 UY275 7.20 2003 Jul 2.0865 LINEAR 39
P/2003 W1 126.33 2003 Nov 9.4626 LINEAR 40
P/2004 CB 5.033 2004 Apr 2.1628 LINEAR 41
P/2004 HC18 6.52 2004 Jun 18.6769 LINEAR 42
160P/2004 NL21 7.95 2004 Oct 13.0215 LINEAR 43
P/2003 A1 7.10 2003 Feb 1.1836 LINEAR 44
P/2004 WR9 14.92 2005 Jan 11.4920 LINEAR 45
P/2004 X1 4.86 2004 Nov 1.9426 LINEAR 46
P/2005 Q4 9.42 2005 Sep 28.2432 LINEAR 47
P/2004 FY140 11.0 2005 Aug 6.5428 LINEAR 48
P/2005 SD 5.55 2005 Nov 16.4290 LINEAR 49
P/2000 QJ46 14.39 2000 Dec 10.3467 LINEAR 50
P/2005 YQ127 7.62 2005 Nov 3.9554 LINEAR 51
P/2003 WC7 11.80 2004 Feb 5.7487 LINEAR-Catalina 1
P/2004 V5 22.42 2005 Feb 28.7657 LINEAR-Hill 1
P/1998 S1 9.13 1998 Nov 2.7655 LINEAR-Mueller 1
P/2001 BB50 13.5 2001 Jan 30.4132 LINEAR-NEAT 1
P/2001 Q5 6.55 2001 Jun 11.6055 LINEAR-NEAT 2
P/2001 TU80 7.00 2001 Dec 10.0100 LINEAR-NEAT 3
P/2003 CP7 8.05 2003 Apr 29.3155 LINEAR-NEAT 4
P/2003 XD10 6.10 2003 Sep 16.8464 LINEAR-NEAT 5
P/2004 R3 7.52 2004 May 24.4862 LINEAR-NEAT 6
P/2004 T1 6.47 2004 Nov 7.7709 LINEAR-NEAT 7
P/2001 R6 8.35 2001 Oct 27.0791 LINEAR-Skiff 1
P/2000 S4 19.0 2000 Oct 19.1027 LINEAR-Spacewatch 1
P/1999 RO28 6.62 1999 Oct 2.3460 LONEOS 1
P/2000 S3 39.9 2000 Jul 16.2788 LONEOS 2
150P/2000 WT168 7.66 2001 Mar 23.3242 LONEOS 3
P/2001 R1 6.49 2002 Feb 17.5639 LONEOS 4
P/2001 OG108 48.5 2002 Mar 15.2061 LONEOS 5
P/2001 WF2 5.01 2002 Jan 29.8481 LONEOS 6
159P/2003 UD16 14.31 2004 Mar 3.0782 LONEOS 7
P/2004 A1 22.19 2004 Aug 25.8138 LONEOS 8
P/2004 VR8 10.67 2005 Sep 2.5127 LONEOS 9
P/2005 GF8 14.16 2005 Aug 17.3694 LONEOS 10
P/2005 RV25 9.00 2006 Nov 8.4513 LONEOS-Christensen 1
P/2005 XA54 15.06 2006 Mar 8.0420 LONEOS-Hill 1
P/1998 QP54 8.61 1998 Oct 6.3974 LONEOS-Tucker 1
77P/1975 L1 6.98 1974 Nov 4.4359 Longmore 1 76P/
93P/1980 X1 9.06 1980 Sep 3.4242 Lovas 1 540P/
D/1986 W1 6.76 1986 Sep 2.1926 Lovas 2
96P/1986 J2 5.25 1986 Apr 23.5166 Machholz 1
141P/1994 P1-A 5.23 1994 Sep 18.8024 Machholz 2
115P/1985 Q1 8.84 1985 Jun 8.1598 Maury 1
P/2004 K2 5.51 2004 Jun 16.8399 McNaught 1
P/2004 R1 5.49 2004 Aug 30.2125 McNaught 2
P/2005 J1 6.74 2005 Apr 17.3074 McNaught 3
P/2005 K3 7.11 2005 Aug 11.4048 McNaught 4
P/2005 L1 7.92 2005 Dec 12.9354 McNaught 5
P/1994 N2 20.8 1994 Dec 8.1715 McNaught-Hartley 1
130P/1991 S1 6.71 1991 Jun 16.1235 McNaught-Hughes 1
P/1994 X1 18.2 1994 Sep 7.9444 McNaught-Russell 1
P/1917 F1 145. 1917 Apr 11.1751 Mellish 1 517P/
97P/1906 V2 7.78 1906 Oct 10.0746 Metcalf-Brewington 1 516P/ Metcalf
P/1997 G1 19.4 1997 Apr 6.7366 Montani 1
124P/1991 F1 5.64 1991 Mar 18.9699 Mrkos 1
120P/1987 U2 8.44 1987 Dec 4.1105 Mueller 1
131P/1990 R1 6.56 1990 Nov 19.8663 Mueller 2
136P/1990 S1 8.64 1990 Aug 1.7541 Mueller 3
149P/1992 G3 8.97 1992 Feb 16.1561 Mueller 4
173P/1993 W1 13.8 1994 Sep 12.1011 Mueller 5
P/1998 U2 8.71 1998 Oct 20.7392 Mueller 6
P/2001 F1 16.4 2000 Nov 21.8341 NEAT 1
P/2001 H5 14.7 2001 Jan 28.6949 NEAT 2
P/2001 K1 7.54 2000 Nov 6.8870 NEAT 3
P/2001 J1 7.64 2001 Mar 14.1057 NEAT 4
P/2001 M10 138. 2001 Jun 21.3193 NEAT 5
P/2001 Q6 22.6 2001 Nov 9.4668 NEAT 6
P/2001 T3 16.6 2002 Feb 1.1048 NEAT 7
166P/2001 T4 51.9 2002 May 20.3628 NEAT 8
P/2002 K4 73.4 2002 Jul 12.9728 NEAT 9
P/2002 O5 4.98 2002 Aug 3.1016 NEAT 10
P/2002 O8 8.10 2002 May 8.6311 NEAT 11
P/2002 X2 8.10 2003 Mar 29.5784 NEAT 12
P/2003 E1 50.83 2004 Feb 13.6332 NEAT 13
P/2003 F2 16.1 2003 Apr 25.477 NEAT 14
P/2003 QX29 22.7 2002 Oct 26.8516 NEAT 15
P/2003 S1 9.73 2004 Mar 27.6363 NEAT 16
P/2003 S2 7.50 2003 Sep 7.2695 NEAT 17
P/2003 U3 11.47 2003 Apr 22.9761 NEAT 18
P/2004 F1 9.45 2003 Oct 19.7693 NEAT 19
P/2004 F3 8.04 2005 Jan 4.3116 NEAT 20
163P/2004 V4 7.01 2005 Jan 31.3102 NEAT 21
169P/2002 EX12 4.20 2005 Aug 17.8587 NEAT 22
P/2005 R1 12.91 2005 Oct 8.4142 NEAT 23
P/2002 T6 21.16 2003 Jun 27.0049 NEAT-LINEAR 1
P/2003 SQ215 12.91 2004 Mar 24.2293 NEAT-LONEOS 1
28P/1913 R2 17.8 1913 Aug 16.9269 Neujmin 1 32P/
25D/1916 D1 5.43 1916 Mar 11.8097 Neujmin 2 31P/
42P/1929 P2 10.9 1929 Jun 28.6140 Neujmin 3 44P/
P/1998 X1 6.76 1998 Jul 20.9334 ODAS 1
13P/1815 E1 74.9 1815 Apr 26.4951 Olbers 1 15P/
39P/1943 G1 7.89 1942 Aug 21.0884 Oterma 1 43P/
119P/1989 E1 8.85 1987 Aug 16.1988 Parker-Hartley 1
18D/1896 X1 6.42 1896 Nov 25.120 Perrine-Mrkos 1 22P/ Perrine
80P/1982 N1 8.12 1982 May 8.5685 Peters-Hartley 1 79P/ Peters
P/2001 Q2 5.49 2001 Sep 1.9221 Petriew 1
D/1783 W1 5.89 1783 Nov 20.4304 Pigott 1 503P/
12P/1812 O1 72.6 1812 Sep 15.8287 Pons-Brooks 1 14P/
P/1827 M1 57.5 1827 Jun 7.6376 Pons-Gambart 1 505P/
7P/1858 E1 5.55 1858 May 2.5396 Pons-Winnecke 1 9P/
P/2005 S3 10.85 2006 Jan 8.5703 Read 1
P/2005 T3 20.6 2006 Jan 13.3584 Read 2
P/2005 U1 5.63 2005 Jul 27.9173 Read 3
30P/1928 D1 7.23 1928 Jan 30.9802 Reinmuth 1 33P/
44P/1947 R1 6.59 1947 Aug 19.5134 Reinmuth 2 47P/
83P/1979 M2 6.10 1979 May 26.9760 Russell 1 537P/
89P/1980 S1 7.12 1980 May 19.0165 Russell 2 539P/
91P/1983 L1 7.49 1982 Nov 23.2732 Russell 3 545P/
94P/1984 E1 6.39 1984 Jan 5.9584 Russell 4 549P/
156P/1986 R1 6.84 1986 Dec 4.8062 Russell-LINEAR 1
92P/1977 T2 12.5 1977 Sep 17.5590 Sanguin 1 531P/
24P/1911 X1 8.01 1911 Nov 13.5247 Schaumasse 1 28P/
D/1918 W1 6.67 1918 Sep 30.2461 Schorr 1 518P/
106P/1977 T1 7.47 1978 Jan 6.8146 Schuster 1 530P/
29P/1927 V1 16.4 1925 May 7.8483 Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 30P/
31P/1929 B1 6.42 1929 Mar 23.1948 Schwassmann-Wachmann 2 34P/
73P/1930 J1 5.41 1930 Jun 14.1976 Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
P/2000 Y3 11.4 2000 Nov 2.3145 Scotti 1
P/2001 X2 7.34 2001 Oct 14.7444 Scotti 2
P/2003 L1 17.33 2003 Mar 7.6754 Scotti 3
61P/1949 S1 7.27 1949 Nov 27.1244 Shajn-Schaldach 1
102P/1984 S2 7.23 1984 Sep 16.6147 Shoemaker 1 552P/
155P/1986 A1 16.9 1985 Dec 18.5552 Shoemaker 3
P/1994 J3 14.5 1994 Oct 14.5947 Shoemaker 4
128P/1987 U1 9.55 1988 May 21.3675 Shoemaker-Holt 1
121P/1989 E2 8.01 1988 Aug 7.7909 Shoemaker-Holt 2
P/1990 V1 17.3 1990 Sep 18.5868 Shoemaker-Levy 1
137P/1990 UL3 9.27 1990 Sep 25.3746 Shoemaker-Levy 2
129P/1991 C1 7.25 1990 Dec 13.7322 Shoemaker-Levy 3
118P/1991 C2 6.51 1990 Jul 14.2949 Shoemaker-Levy 4
145P/1991 T1 8.67 1991 Dec 13.1976 Shoemaker-Levy 5
P/1991 V1 7.54 1991 Oct 13.8585 Shoemaker-Levy 6
138P/1991 V2 6.73 1991 Oct 27.4773 Shoemaker-Levy 7
135P/1992 G2 7.47 1992 Jun 13.5158 Shoemaker-Levy 8
D/1993 F2 17.8 1994 Mar 28.0038 Shoemaker-Levy 9
146P/1984 W1 7.88 1984 Sep 26.6855 Shoemaker-LINEAR 1 553P/ Shoemaker 2
P/2004 V3 18.97 2004 Nov 11.3451 Siding Spring 1
162P/2004 TU12 5.32 2004 Nov 10.2831 Siding Spring 2
105P/1986 J1 6.45 1986 Sep 11.3269 Singer Brewster 1
P/2000 S1 16.9 2000 Jul 14.6636 Skiff 1
P/2002 S1 8.12 2002 Mar 25.2048 Skiff 2
P/2004 V1 9.96 2004 Dec 8.8680 Skiff 3
P/2005 S2 22.48 2006 Jun 29.0656 Skiff 4
D/1977 C1 7.54 1976 Aug 4.0625 Skiff-Kosai 1
56P/1959 B1 11.6 1958 Sep 5.2218 Slaughter-Burnham 1 57P/
74P/1975 E2 8.53 1975 Aug 6.2337 Smirnova-Chernykh 1 80P/
125P/1991 R2 5.56 1990 Dec 21.8626 Spacewatch 1
P/2005 JN 6.54 2005 Jun 20.4015 Spacewatch 2
P/2004 DO29 20.31 2004 Oct 9.3642 Spacewatch-LINEAR 1
P/1998 U4 13.1 1999 Feb 26.4180 Spahr 1
171P/1998 W1 6.61 1999 Jan 17.9523 Spahr 2
113P/1890 W1 6.34 1890 Oct 27.4784 Spitaler 1 511P/
38P/1942 V1 38.9 1942 Dec 19.0897 Stephan-Oterma 1 41P/
P/2005 T4 28.6 2005 Oct 10.538 SWAN 1
D/1895 Q1 7.20 1895 Aug 21.3156 Swift 1 514P/
64P/1889 W1 9.15 1889 Nov 30.1101 Swift-Gehrels 1 63P/ Swift
109P/1862 O1 132. 1862 Aug 23.4229 Swift-Tuttle 1 507P/
98P/1984 O1 7.24 1984 May 24.9577 Takamizawa 1 550P/
69P/1915 W1-B 6.37 1916 Jan 31.6183 Taylor 1
9P/1867 G1 5.65 1867 May 24.2174 Tempel 1 10P/
10P/1873 N1 5.21 1873 Jun 25.8358 Tempel 2 12P/
11P/1880 T1 5.50 1880 Nov 8.4970 Tempel-Swift-LINEAR 1 13P/ Tempel-Swift
55P/1865 Y1 33.5 1866 Jan 11.6193 Tempel-Tuttle 1 2P/
P/2000 U6 7.38 2000 Oct 4.6050 Tichy 1
157P/1978 C2 6.49 1977 Oct 28.4469 Tritton 1 533P/
62P/1965 A1 6.62 1965 Jan 28.6263 Tsuchinshan 1 60P/
60P/1965 A2 6.79 1965 Feb 9.2964 Tsuchinshan 2 62P/
P/2005 E1 19.4 2005 Mar 14.3163 Tubbiolo 1
8P/1858 A1 13.7 1858 Feb 24.0181 Tuttle 1
41P/1951 H1 5.47 1951 May 9.3695 Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak 1 21P/ Tuttle-Giacobini
112P/1986 UD 6.62 1986 Nov 22.9399 Urata-Niijima 1
40P/1939 CB 10.6 1939 Apr 26.0748 Vaisala 1 42P/
P/1942 EA 85.4 1942 Feb 15.8195 Vaisala 2 521P/
139P/1939 TN 9.59 1939 Dec 31.0147 Vaisala-Oterma 1
53P/1954 R1 12.4 1954 Feb 20.7587 Van Biesbroeck 1 55P/
D/1960 S1 15.6 1961 Apr 26.8428 van Houten 1 523P/
P/2002 Q1 6.65 2002 Jul 15.9875 Van Ness 1
P/2005 R2 6.34 2005 Feb 10.0562 Van Ness 2
123P/1989 E3 7.58 1988 Oct 6.4053 West-Hartley 1
76P/1975 D1 6.11 1975 Feb 25.7809 West-Kohoutek-Ikemura 1 74P/
20D/1852 O1 61.2 1852 Oct 13.2187 Westphal 1 25P/
46P/1948 A1 6.71 1947 Dec 2.9379 Wirtanen 1 48P/
36P/1933 U1 7.50 1933 Aug 1.4370 Whipple 1 39P/
63P/1960 G1 13.2 1960 Mar 17.3592 Wild 1 65P/
81P/1978 A2 6.17 1978 Jun 15.8802 Wild 2
86P/1980 G1 6.89 1980 Oct 5.1863 Wild 3 538P/
116P/1990 B1 6.15 1990 Jul 2.5235 Wild 4
P/1937 D1 187. 1937 Feb 21.5341 Wilk 1 520P/
107P/1949 W1 4.30 1949 Oct 8.0799 Wilson-Harrington 1
114P/1986 Y1 6.52 1986 Nov 22.7608 Wiseman-Skiff 1
14P/1884 S1 6.77 1884 Nov 18.2894 Wolf 1 16P/
43P/1924 Y1 7.60 1925 Jan 11.3809 Wolf-Harrington 1 45P/ Wolf
172P/2002 BV 6.59 2002 Mar 11.0581 Yeung 1
The official comet designation as assigned by the IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT). This is a unique identifier based on the year and month of the comet's discovery (see the Minor Planet Circulars 23803-23804 for details). For multiple apparition (numbered) comets, the principal designation is adopted from the Catalog of Cometary Orbits.
The orbital period (in years) and the date of perihelion corresponding to the principal designation are included to provide a backup for distinguishing between comets when an ambiguous name or designation is used. (e.g., 2P/ could refer to the official designation of Encke, or the Belyaev/Carusi designation of Tempel-Tuttle).
The name of the comet, derived from the name(s) of the discoverer(s). To ensure that each name is unique, a serial number has been appended to identify the different comets discovered by the same observer(s). In cases where historical numbers already exist, these have been retained. In cases where multiple comets were discovered after the CBAT and the Minor Planet Center (MPC) stopped using these numbers, they have been added, either in the order of the comet's identification as periodic or when it has been given an official name (whichever came second). All first discovery names have had a "1" appended to avoid the need for changing names at a future date if a second comet is discovered by the same observer(s) or by a new observer with the same name.
Note that in the case of Chiron, there is no serial number. This is because "Chiron" is the name that was assigned to it under asteroid naming conventions, not the name of its discoverer. Furthermore, there are three periodic comets that have also been assigned numbers in the asteroid classification system: 95P/Chiron (2060), 107P/Wilson-Harrington (4015) and 133P/Elst-Pizzaro (7968).
The designations used in the Belyaev et al. Catalog of Short Period Comets. The same designations were used and updated by Carusi et al. in their Long Term Evolution of Comets. These catalogs represent an independent numbering system that has been superseded by the official designations presented here, and only the numbers that deviate from the official designation are noted. The 500 level numbers used in these catalogs denote comets that had only had one apparition at the time the catalog was published. It is assumed that the user will not search for a comet using this designation.
Previous names usually come from an original discovery, after which the comet was lost. Upon rediscovery, a second (or third) name was added, and this new name is the one currently in use. Note that alternate names have only been included for comets that were rediscovered (and thus had their name changed) after 1950. There are two justifications for this restriction: First, there are a number of ambiguities and multiple rediscoveries before 1950, and avoiding the renaming of these comets simplifies the list. More importantly, however, there is not likely to be much significant literature regarding these older comets under their earlier names. After all, since the comets were lost, they were apparently not extensively studied after their original discovery. Most of the alternate names were found from the histories given in Comets: A Descriptive Catalog by Gary Kronk, as well as from Kronk's Cometography web site. Others were determined from changes in different versions of the MPC catalog in recent years.
Last page update: 13-Jan-2006, tlf