Please email me with any questions
SOHO Comet Discoverers' Totals
Last updated: July 24, 2008
Current totals: 1515
This table lists of total number of SOHO comets, including SWAN discoveries. Note that only the comets, confirmed by MPC and reported on MPECs or IAUCs, those internally confirmed by SOHO personnel and granted a "SOHO number" when still awaiting permanent designation as well. Refer to Sungrazer Web site for reports and astrometry. Please notify me about the errors and your disagreements.
| Rank | Name-lists | Total number (Total number of first reports) | Notes |
| 1 | Rainer Kracht (Germany) | 213(211) | Discoverer of Kracht & Kracht2 comet groups, + 4 SOLWIND and 2 STEREO comets up to now |
| 2 | Hua Su (China) | 189(185) | |
| 3 | Michael Oates (UK) | 144(139) | Pioneered the search of SOHO's archives files |
| 4 | Tony Hoffman (US) | 109(104) | |
| 5 | Bo Zhou (China) | 102(102) | |
| 6 | Xavier Leprette (France) | 100(95) | |
| 7 | Rob Matson (US) | 77(76) | includes 2 SWAN co-discoveries (C/2005 T4, C/2006 M4) |
| 8 | XingMing Zhou (China) | 64(63) | includes SWAN co-discovery (C/2004 H6) |
| 9 | Michael Boschat (Canada) | 60(53) | |
| 10 | John Sachs (US) | 54(47) | includes LASCO co-discovery of C/2004 V13 (SWAN) |
| 11 | Doug Biesecker (US) | 53(47) | SOHO/LASCO team member |
| 12 | Sebastian Hönig (Germany) | 43(42) | +Visual discovery in night sky (C/2002 O4) |
| 13 | Maik Meyer (Germany) | 40(37) | Discoverer of Meyer comet group |
| 14 | Toni Scarmato (Italy) | 22(21) | Discoverer of SOHO-1000 |
| 15 | Kazimieras Cernis (Lithuania) | 22(19) | includes SWAN co-discovery (C/2004 H6); + 3 visual discoveries in night sky (C/1980 O1, C/1983 O1, C/1990 E1) |
| 16 | David Evans (UK) | 20(20) | |
| 17 | Karl Battams (US/UK) | 19(19) | SOHO/LASCO team member |
| 18 | Michal Kusiak (Poland) | 16(16) | |
| 19 | Shane Stezelberger (US) | 14(14) | SOHO/LASCO team member |
| 20 | Steve Farmer, Jr. (US) | 13(13) | |
| 21 | Kevin Schenk (US) | 11(11) | SOHO/LASCO team member |
| 22 | Arkadiusz Kubczak (Poland) | 11(11) | includes the 1000th SOHO Kreutz comet (SOHO-1185) |
| 23 | James Danaher (US) | 11(10) | |
| 24 | Terry Lovejoy (Australia) | 11(9) | First amateur to discover a comet online; + 1 comet discovery in night sky with a DSLR (C/2007 E2) |
| 25 | Darren Lewis (UK) | 10(10) | SOHO/LASCO team member |
| 26 | Shihong Yuan (China) | 10(10) | |
| 27 | Tao Chen (China) | 10(7) | + 1 comet discovery in night sky with a DSLR (C/2008 C1 (Chen-Gao)) |
| 28 | Jiangao Ruan (China) | 9(9) | |
| 29 | Masanori Uchina (Japan) | 9(8) | |
| 30 | Bernard McCarty (UK) | 9(5) | SOHO/LASCO team member |
| 31 | Wentao Xu (China) | 8(8) | |
| 32 | Heiner Otterstedt (Germany) | 7(7) | Discoverer of many Non-group SOHO comets |
| 33 | Guoyou Sun (China) | 7(7) | |
| 34 | Quanzhi Ye (China) | 7(6) | |
| 35 | DongHua Chen (China) | 6(6) | |
| 36 | Jonathan Shanklin (UK) | 6(3) | |
| 37 | Pavel Shkreby (Russia) | 6(3) | |
| 38 | Angelos Vourlidas (US) | 5(5) | SOHO/LASCO team member |
| 39 | Derek Hammer (US) | 5(5) | SOHO/LASCO team member |
| 40 | Michele Mazzucato (Italy) | 5(5) | |
| 41 | Vladimir Bezugly (Ukraine) | 5(4) | includes 1 SWAN co-discovery (C/2005 P3) |
| 42 | Michael Mattiazzo (Australia) | 5(1) | 5 SWAN discoveries (C/2004 H6, C/2004 V13, C/2005 P3, C/2005 T4, C/2006 M4) |
| 43 | Xing Gao (China) | 4(4) | + 1 comet discovery in night sky with a DSLR (C/2008 C1 (Chen-Gao)) |
| 44 | Alexander Mimeev (Russia) | 4(3) | |
| 45 | Chris St. Cyr (US) | 3(3) | SOHO/LASCO team member |
| 46 | Chong Liang (China) | 3(3) | |
| 47 | Luciano Cane (Italy) | 3(3) | |
| 48 | Sarah Gregory (US) | 2(2) | SOHO/LASCO team member |
| 49 | Teemu Mäkinen (Finland) | 2(2) | 2 SWAN discoveries; SWAN team member |
| 50 | Roberto Gorelli (Italy) | 2(2) | |
| 51 | Dwight Hanson (US) | 2(2) | |
| 52 | Gregg Gallina (US) | 2(2) | |
| 53 | Yuan-Sheng Tsai (Taiwan Is., China) | 2(2) | |
| 54 | Alan Watson (Australia) | 2(2) | First discoverer to detect comets in STEREO/SECCHI images. 4 STEREO comets up to now |
| 55 | Giuseppe Pappa (Italy) | 2(2) | |
| 56 | Masayuki Suzuki (Japan) | 2(1) | 2 SWAN (co-)discoveries (C/2002 O6, C/2005 P3) |
| 57 | David Johnson (US) | 1(1) | |
| 58 | Hartwig Lüthen (Germany) | 1(1) | |
| 59 | Federico Mimeev (Russia) | 1(1) | |
| 60 | Jinao Zhang (China) | 1(1) | |
| 61 | Hirohisa Sato (Japan) | 1(1) | SWAN co-discovery (C/2005 P3) |
| 62 | Adam Ambrus (Hungary) | 1(1) | |
| 63 | Zhangwei Jin (China) | 1(1) | |
| 64 | Parrish Collison (US) | 1(1) | |
| 65 | Eryk Banach (Poland) | 1(1) | |
| 66 | Michael Jäger (Austria) | 1(0) | SWAN co-discovery (C/2005 P3) |
| 67 | Tim Harincar (US) | 1(0) |
Note: The rank is listed according to the times of discoveries. If being the same as someone, it will be listed by the number in brackets. Being the same again, it will be ranked according to the discovery date. SWAN comets discoveries are specially listed in the "notes" above. Email me with any questions.
PS: I start taking the confirmations by SOHO/LASCO team members from December, 2006. Updating...
Skip to 2006(only Dec available) 2007 2008
Jul 23 2008
Confirmations (to Jul 23 2008 06:28:41) |
Jun 26 2008
OK, I guess I can release these now... |
Jun 23 2008
All, |
Jun 13 2008
Confirmations: |
May 29 2008
Confirmations: |
May 05 2008
Confirmations: |
Mar 24 2008
Confirmations: |
Mar 24 2008
Confirmations: |
Jan 23 2008
Confirmations: |
Dec 31 2007
Confirmations: |
Dec 12 2007
Remaining confirmations: |
Dec 12 2007
More confirmations: |
Dec 12 2007
Some confirmations: |
Oct 22 2007
Confirmations: |
Sep 28 2007
Confirmations *** TO Sep 27 2007 13:09:27 ONLY ***: |
Sep 07 2007
Confirmations: |
Jul 16 2007
Confirmations: |
Jul 03 2007
Confirmations (Part 1) |
May 16 2007
Confirmations: |
Apr 06 2007
Confirmations: Soho# Date/Time of Post Discoverer Tel Group Images of.. =============================================================== 1274 Mar02,07 20:12:41 B.Zhou C3 Kreutz Mar02-03,07 1275 Mar09,07 16:25:16 V.Bezugly C3 Kreutz Mar09,07 1276 Mar20,07 18:57:16 B.Zhou C3,C2 Kreutz Mar20-22,07 1277 Mar27,07 10:14:47 B.Zhou C3,C2 Kreutz Mar27,07 1278 Mar28,07 10:42:27 B.Zhou C3,C2 Meyer Mar28,07 1279 Mar29,07 23:30:23 T.Hoffman C2 Kreutz Mar29,07 -- Well March proved to be a very quiet month (which was good for me since I'm so busy!). I think I have checked all the reports but let me know if I missed any. It should be noted that most, if not all, of the above comets were observed in the SECCHI HI-1A instrument -- even Tony's C2-only Kreutz!! Many, many thanks are due to Alan Watson and Rainer Kracht for monitoring that data. In due course I will begin the process of measuring the comets in those images -- I will be on travel again all of next week but should be in occasional email contact if there are any problems. ~~KB |
Mar 01 2007
Confirmations: Soho# Date/Time of Post Discoverer Tel Group Images of.. =============================================================== 1270 Feb15,07 08:42:23 H.Su C3,C2 Kreutz Feb14-16,07 1271 Feb12,07 22:24:07 B.Zhou C2 Kracht May13,04 1272 Feb16,07 11:15:46 H.Su C3 Kreutz Feb16,07 1273 Feb18,07 17:23:41 A.Kubczak C3 Kreutz Feb18,07 -- Note that Arkadiusz's post of Feb 16 2007 17:33:06 was referring to Hua's comet from earlier that day. Note also that Tony's report from Feb24,07 20:14:04 can not be confirmed -- those were the only three images we had for several hours. -- LASCO doors are back open after the station keeping maneuver, but they will close again briefly tomorrow for the spacecraft roll. -- I will be on travel from tomorrow until March 13. I will be in infrequent email contact. ~~KB |
Feb 09 2007
Confirmations: Soho# Date/Time of Post Discoverer Tel Group Images of.. =============================================================== 1259 Jan31,07 10:18:02 H.Su C3,C2 Kreutz Jan31-Feb01,07 1260 Feb01,07 09:48:49 M.Uchina C3,C2 Kreutz Jan31-Feb02,07 1261 Feb02,07 11:46:52 H.Su C2 Nongrp Feb02,07 1262 Feb02,07 20:30:58 H.Su C3 Kreutz Feb02-03,07 1263 Feb03,07 12:57:02 H.Su C3 Kreutz Feb03,07 1264 Feb05,07 17:19:49 B.Zhou C3,C2 Kreutz Feb05-07,07 1265 Feb05,07 18:04:22 B.Zhou C3,C2 Kreutz Feb05-06,07 1266 Feb06,07 19:04:48 R.Matson C3 Kreutz Feb06-07,07 1267 Feb07,07 12:13:30 H.Su C2 Meyer Feb07,07 1268 Feb07,07 13:11:32 H.Su C3 Kreutz Feb07-08,07 1269 Feb08,07 10:21:54 H.Su C3 Nongrp Feb08-09,07 -- Wow!! In February 2006 we had a total of 11 comets for the whole month... This Feb., we have had 10 in the first nine days! Amazing! Congratulations to all who found comets, especially Masanori who found his first SOHO comet after only three days as a "registered" comet hunter -- that has to be a record! Well done, Masanori! -- I was hoping Hua's non-group comet would survive a little longer than it did. Oh well... -- I have checked all reports up-to-and-including Feb 09 2007 15:55:28 ~~KB |
Jan 26 2007
Confirmations: Soho# Date/Time of Post Discoverer Tel Group Images of.. =============================================================== 1249 Dec27,06 15:19:42 R.Kracht C2 ?NonGrp? Dec27,06 1250 Dec29,06 00:43:47 W.Xu C3,C2 Kreutz Dec29,06 1251 Dec29,06 12:07:48 H.Su C3 Kreutz Dec29-30,06 1252 Dec29,06 22:03:16 A.Watson C2 Kreutz Dec29,06 1253 Jan05,07 10:15:34 H.Su C3,C2 Kreutz Jan04-05,07 1254 Jan09,07 10:53:13 H.Su C3 Kreutz Jan09,07 1255 Jan10,07 11:07:29 L.Cane C2 NonGrp Jan10,07 1256 Jan11,06 09:05:06 T.Hoffman C2 Meyer Jan10-11,07 1257 Jan17,07 23:13:39 H.Su C3 Kreutz Jan18,07 1258 Jan19,07 05:29:23 W.Xu C3 Kreutz Jan19,07 -- As you can see, Rainer's unusual comet got promoted from X-comet once I stopped treating it as a Kreutz. I think it must be a non- group object -- it just doesn't move like a Kreutz in my opinion. -- There seems to be a resurgence of non-group comet claims. Please think carefully before you post these. We see very, very few non- group comets, especially in C3. Otherwise the report form is looking quite junk-free, so that's nice -- thank you! -- Email me with questions, etc. ~~KB |
Dec 29 2006
Confirmations: Soho# Date/Time of Post Discoverer Tel Group Images of.. =============================================================== 1228 Dec09,06 07:29:19 R.Kracht C2 Kreutz Dec09,06 1229 Dec10,06 09:04:45 M.Meyer C2 Kreutz Dec10,06 1230 Dec10,06 09:32:20 T.Scarmato C3,C2 Kreutz Dec10-11, 1231 Dec10,06 16:46:05 B.Zhou C2 Kreutz Dec09,06 1232 Dec11,06 12:48:02 X.Gao C2 Kreutz Dec11,06 1233 Dec11,06 20:41:01 H.Su C3,C2 Kreutz Dec11-12,06 1234 Dec12,06 15:59:54 B.Zhou C2 Kreutz Dec12,06 1235 Dec15,06 14:13:53 Hoffman,Kracht C2 Kreutz Dec15,06 1236 Dec15,06 15:24:50 R.Kracht C2 Meyer Dec15,06 1237 Dec15,06 16:59:55 R.Matson C2 Kreutz Dec15,06 1238 Dec17,06 21:23:50 S.Yuan C3,C2 Kreutz Dec17-18,06 1239 Dec20,06 09:17:37 R.Kracht C2 Kreutz Dec20,06 1240 Dec20,06 18:43:40 T.Hoffman C3,C2 Kreutz Dec20-21,06 1241 Dec21,06 04:17:52 B.Zhou C3,C2 Kreutz Dec21-22,06 1242 Dec21,06 16:35:02 R.Kracht C2 Kreutz Dec21,06 1243 Dec21,06 16:53:58 T.Hoffman C2 Kreutz Dec21,06 1244 Dec21,06 17:35:07 M.Mazzucato C2 Kreutz Dec21,06 1245 Dec22,06 21:31:03 T.Hoffman C3,C2 Kreutz Dec23,06 1246 Dec24,06 16:06:41 M.Mazzucato C3,C2 Kreutz Dec24-25,06 XC58 Dec27,06 15:19:42 R.Kracht C2 ?Kreutz? Dec27,06 1247 Dec28,06 00:25:55 W.Xu C3,C2 Kreutz Dec28,06 1248 Dec28,06 08:13:10 R.Kracht C2 Kreutz Dec28,06 -- Note that I have only checked to Dec 28 2006 23:05:57 -- Several things to say... First, sorry Rainer but that little Kreutz of yours just wasn't right somehow. I couldn't get a fifth position and I just didn't feel 100% confident of it so it is an X-Comet. Second, the C3 positions given for Rainer's Meyer-group comet did not work at all, so that is a C2-only object. Third, I will be on vacation until January 8th. Please try and keep the number of posts down to a sensible figure. I realise that we have just had a big "comet storm" but we are now heading into January, so the C2 stream will dry up completely and the C3 stream should tail off somewhat too -- so I expect the volume of reports to decrease accordingly! As always, email me if you have any questions, problems, etc and I will answer you when I can. -- I hope everyone has a Happy New Year! :) ~~KB |
Dec 08 2006
Confirmations: Soho# Date/Time of Post Discoverer Tel Group Images of.. =============================================================== 1226 Nov25,06 15:30:42 R.Kracht C2 Kreutz Nov25,06 1227 ** via email ** R.Kracht C3 Kreutz Feb08,03 -- It looks like the three-position minimum for C3 is working out nicely. The reports page is much more readable than usual (admittedly the lack of images has helped somewhat, too...). Congratulations to Rainer on finding a very tiny archive Kreutz. -- The website is a little out-of-date in terms of MPEC links, etc, so I am going to fix that now. (More MPECs were released today, btw) ~~KB |
Please email me with
any questions