This comet, discovered on 2026 September 14.17, has finally received a
formal designation. MPEC 2026-T126 announces the discovery of comet
P/2026 R2 (Leonard). The comet has a period of 21.8 years.

https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K26/K26TC6.html

The BAA archive has been updated to include the images received so far:

https://britastro.org/cometobs/2026r2/thumbnails.html

Note that the Bartlett image is incorrectly dated. It should be
2026-09-17. I'll fix that on the next update.

Nick.

On 01/10/2026 07:16, Nick James wrote:
> Dan Green has issued CBET 5753 for this comet but, more than two weeks
> after discovery, there is still no formal designation:
>
> http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/005700/CBET005753.txt
>
> Nick.
>
> On 23/09/2026 07:40, Nick James wrote:
>> Thanks for submitting your observations of this cometary object. It
>> appears to be brightening smoothly in a 9 arcsec aperture and so it is
>> probably not in outburst.
>>
>> Nine days after discovery it has still not received a formal
>> designation from the MPC. Please submit images with the object name
>> "C46K1R1" and I will rename them and put them in the archive when a
>> designation is received.
>>
>> The latest astrometry shows that it is in a short period orbit (P=21.7
>> years) with a perihelion on Oct 25.2 at q=0.78 au. It now has a very
>> rapid apparent motion so please keep exposures short to avoid trailing
>> the comet.
>>
>> https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20260923_063154_f50012dc8a2e931d
>>
>>
>> Nick.
>>
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