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Search Programs for Comets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2016

B. G. Marsden
B. G. Marsden*
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. E-mail MARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU

Abstract

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Although there are currently no professional search programs specifically designed for comets, comet discoveries are a significant by-product of the current search programs for near-earth asteroids. With their emphasis on the opposition point and the ecliptic, asteroid patrols are clearly biased toward discovering short-period comets. A. comparison of the comet discoveries made at elongations of less than 120° from the sun during the ten-year intervals ending in 1892 and 1992 indicates that the current opposition searches are not able to displace visual searches in the vicinity of the sun. Modification of the near-opposition search region to that proposed for the Spaceguard Project would be helpful, but—as also proposed for Spaceguard—supplementation is still necessary for high-inclination objects. CCD experimentation in the regions traditionally searched visually by amateurs would be useful. Searches for particular types of object like Kreutz sungrazers and comets near Jupiter in space are briefly discussed.

Type
Search Programs
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 160: Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 1993 , 1994 , pp. 1 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1994 

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