Discovery

Dae-am Yi (Yeongwol-kun, Gangwon-do, Korea) found this comet on two 60-second exposures obtained on 2009 March 26.84, with his Canon 5D DSLR and a 90-mm lens. The two images were taken about 80 seconds apart. Yi estimated the magnitude as 12.5 and described it as a blue-green object about 1' across. This was the first time a comet had been named after a Korean. Yi did not send an announcement to the Central Bureau in Massachusetts, USA. Instead, it made its way to H. Yamaoka (Kyushu University, Fukuaka, Japan) by March 28, where they apparently awaited confirmation. Meanwhile, on April 4, the Central Bureau was notified by R. D. Matson (USA) that he had found images of a comet on ultraviolet SWAN images obtained by the SOHO spacecraft. The comet appeared in images obtained on March 29, 31, April 1, 3, and 4.

Historical Highlights