* Astronomy

Four new comets were discovered on  NRL/SECCHI  images  taken by  various remote   instruments  (HI1-A, COR2-A, HI1-B, COR2-B) on the STEREO-A and STEREO-B satellites.

C/2008 D1 (STEREO) - Alan Watson - HI1-A, February 16, 2008 (20:09-23:29 UTC)
C/2008 D2 (STEREO) - Alan Watson - HI1-A, February 19, 2008 (16:09-18:49 UTC)
C/2008 D3 (STEREO) - Alan Watson - HI1-A, February 20, 2008 (04:09-08:49 UTC)
C/2008 D4 (STEREO) - Rainer Kracht - HI1-A, February 21, 2008 (00:49-02:49 UTC)

Orbital elements:
Comet            T              q       e       Peri.    Node     Incl.     C
CK08D010   2008 Feb.  17.76   0.0052   1.0      99.09    15.82   140.28     X
CK08D020   2008 Feb.  20.51   0.0051   1.0      90.43    11.17   143.49     X
CK08D030   2008 Feb.  22.398  0.00528  1.0      78.905  358.785  143.994    X
CK08D040   2008 Feb.  21.79   0.0049   1.0      77.24    15.67   145.98     X

These four STEREO comets,  the first discovered by the satellite, belong to the Kreutz Sungrazers group of comets.

MPEC 2008-E58