This table lists the number of SOHO comets, including
SWAN comets, discovered by each person, and it includes comets
confirmed by CBAT/MPC and reported on MPECs (Minor Planet Electronic
Circulars) and IAU Circulars, as well as those internally confirmed by
SOHO personnel and granted a "SOHO number" (such as SOHO-500) while
awaiting permanent designation. The numbers here will be in excess of
the total number of confirmed SOHO comets (currently
1500, because some SOHO comets have been credited
to more than one hunter, but should match the number of names in the "SOHO Discoveries" links
on the
Sungrazer Web site. Please report any discrepancies to me.
Note that official credit
for the discovery of SOHO comets goes to the SOHO spacecraft rather than the individuals who find them,
although the finders are mentioned on the discovery MPEC bulletins. Last updated: July 4, 2008
| Rainer Kracht (Germany) | 211 | Many archival and non-Kreutz finds (including the Kracht and Kracht2 comet groups), plus 4 SOLWIND and two STEREO comets. | |
| Hua Su (China) | 185 | ||
| Michael Oates (UK) | 144 | Pioneered the search of SOHO's archives for previously missed comets. | |
| Tony Hoffman (US) | 105 | ||
| Xavier Leprette (France) | 100 | Many archival finds | |
| Bo Zhou (China) | 97 | ||
| Rob Matson (US) | 77 | Includes 2 SWAN co-discoveries (C/2005 T4, C/2006 M4) | |
| XingMing Zhou (China) | 64 | Includes SWAN co-discovery (C/2004 H6) | |
| Michael Boschat (Canada) | 60 | includes LASCO co-discovery of C/2004 V13 (SWAN) | |
| John Sachs (US) | 54 | ||
| Doug Biesecker (US) | 53 | SOHO/LASCO team member | |
| Sebastian Hönig (Germany) | 43 | +1 night-sky visual discovery (C/2002 O4); predicted the return of P/2007 R5, first official periodic SOHO comet | |
| Maik Meyer (Germany) | 40 | Discoverer of Meyer comet group. | |
| Kazimieras Cernis (Lithuania) | 22 | Includes SWAN co-discovery (C/2004 H6); + 3 night-sky visual discoveries (C/1980 O1, C/1983 O1, C/1990 E1) | |
| Toni Scarmato (Italy) | 22 | Discoverer of SOHO-1000 | |
| David Evans (UK) | 20 |
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| Karl Battams (US/UK) | 19 | SOHO/LASCO team member | |
| Michal Kusiak (Poland) | 16 | ||
| Shane Stezelberger (US) | 14 | SOHO/LASCO team member | |
| Steve Farmer, Jr. (US) | 13 |
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| Terry Lovejoy (Australia) | 11 | First amateur to discover a comet online (in SOHO images). +2 night-sky DSLR discoveries (C/2007 E2, C/2007 K5) | |
| Kevin Schenk (US) | 11 | SOHO/LASCO team member | |
| James Danaher (US) | 11 |
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| Darren Lewis (UK) | 10 | SOHO/LASCO team member | |
| Tao Chen (China) | 10 |
+1 night-sky DSLR discovery (C/2008 C1) (with Xing Gao) |
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| Arkadiusz Kubczak (Poland) | 10 | includes the 1000th SOHO Kreutz comet (SOHO-1185) | |
| Jiangao Ruan (China) | 10 | ||
| Shihong Yuan (China) | 10 | ||
| Bernard McCarty (UK) | 9 | SOHO/LASCO team member | |
| Masanori Uchina (Japan) | 9 | ||
| Wentao Xu (China) | 8 | ||
| Guoyou Sun (China) | 7 | ||
| Heiner Otterstedt (Germany) | 7 |
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| Quanzhi Ye (China) | 7 |
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| Jonathan Shanklin (UK) | 6 |
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| DongHua Chen (China) | 6 |
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| Pavel Shkreby (Russia) | 6 |
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| Angelos Vourlidas (US) | 5 | SOHO/LASCO team member | |
| Derek Hammer (US) | 5 | SOHO/LASCO team member | |
| Michael Mattiazzo (Australia) | 5 | 5 SWAN discoveries (C/2004 H6, C/2004 V13, C/2005 P3, C/2005 T4, C/2006 M4) | |
| Vladimir Bezugly (Ukraine) | 5 | includes 1 SWAN co-discovery (C/2005 P3) | |
| Michele Mazzucato (Italy) | 5 | ||
| Alexander Mimeev (Russia) | 4 |
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| Xing Gao (China) | 4 | +1 night-sky DSLR discovery (C/2008 C1) (with Tao Chen) | |
| Chris St. Cyr (US) | 3 | SOHO/LASCO team member | |
| Chong Liang (China) | 3 |
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| Luciano Cane (Italy) | 3 |
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| Sarah Gregory (US) | 2 | SOHO/LASCO team member | |
| Teemu Mäkinen (Finland) | 2 | 2 SWAN discoveries; SWAN team member | |
| Roberto Gorelli (Italy) | 2 |
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| Dwight Hanson (US) | 2 |
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| Gregg Gallina (US) | 2 |
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| Yuan-Sheng Tsai (Taiwan) | 2 |
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| Masayuki Suzuki (Japan) | 2 | 2 SWAN (co-)discoveries (C/2002 O6, C/2005 P3) | |
| Alan Watson (Australia) | 2 | Finder of the first comet in SECCHI (STEREO) images; has now found 4 STEREO comets | |
| Giuseppe Pappa (Italy) | 2 | ||
| Tim Harincar (US) | 1 |
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| David Johnson (US) | 1 |
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| Hartwig Luethen (Germany) | 1 |
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| Federico Mimeev (Russia) | 1 |
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| Jinao Zhang (China) | 1 |
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| Hirohisa Sato (Japan) | 1 | SWAN co-discovery (C/2005 P3) | |
| Michael Jäger (Austria) | 1 | SWAN co-discovery (C/2005 P3) +1 night-sky photographic discovery (P/1998 U3) | |
| Adam Ambrus (Hungary) | 1 |
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| Zhangwei Jin (China) | 1 | ||
| Parrish Collison (US) | 1 | ||
| Eryk Banach (Poland) | 1 |