International Comet Quarterly

Split Comets

Below is a list of comets that have been observed to split or break up into two or more measured components (* = observed only after the split had occurred, with the two components assigned separate designations) since 1975:

 51P
 57P
 73P
 79P
101P
128P
141P
 C/1975 V1
 C/1986 P1
*C/1988 F1 and C/1988 J1 
*C/1988 A1 and C/1996 Q1
 D/1993 F2
 C/1994 G1
 C/1996 J1
 C/2001 A2
*C/2002 A1 and C/2002 A2
*C/2002 Q2 and C/2002 Q3 
 C/2003 S4
 C/2004 S1
 C/2004 U1
 P/2004 V5
 C/2005 A1
 C/2005 K2

Below is a partial list of recent comets (observed from the ground, not satellite coronagraphs) that have been observed to disintegrate or fade out or disappear suddenly -- their nuclei evidently falling apart:

 C/1974 V2
 C/1978 T3
 C/1979 M1
 C/1983 J1 ?
 C/1984 S1 ?
 C/1985 K1
 C/1987 W1
 C/1988 P1
 C/1991 X2 ?
 C/1992 B1 ?
 C/1992 J2 ?
 C/1992 N1 ?
 D/1993 F2  [pulled apart by Jupiter and the components later slammed into Jupiter]
 C/1993 Q1
 C/1996 Q1
 C/1997 N1
 C/1999 A1 ?
 C/1999 S4
 C/2000 W1
 C/2002 O4
 C/2002 O6
 C/2004 S1

Index to the CBAT/MPC/ICQ pages.