Statistics on comets

The table below provides the number (averaged for the first periods) of comets discovered each year from 1950 to 2010. Are taken into account only new comets never observed before (at least since 200 years). Comets are discovered by chance since their orbits are not known. The individual astronomers "hunters of comets" have seen their discoveries increasing with the size of their telescope or the sensitivity of their receptors but decreasing after the arrival of automatic telescopes detecting any new object in their field of view. The SOHO case is very specific: it is observing the vicinity of the Sun where all eccentric comets arrive at their maximum of brightness. Most of these comets will never be observed again.

	1950 to 1969	1970 to 1979	1980 to 1989	1990 to 1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2008	2010
individual	3 to 4	5	6 to 7	7	4	7	8	5	12	6	3	6	2	9	29	34	41	34
SOHO	-	-	-	-	-	28	78	73	86	93	101	132	145	169	151	111	110	91
LINEAR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	19	11	11	19	17	11	6	5	7	12
others	-	-	<1	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	9	7	3	2	14	12	8	37