The Kreutz sungrazers are a group of comets descended from the breakup of a comet in about 371 BC. They are typically traveling less than 2 solar radii from the Sun. Because they travel so close, they often burn up. Many bright comets are members of the group, including Comet Ikeya–Seki, which broke in 3 pieces in its 1965 perihelion. The Kreutz sungrazers can be subdivided into several groups- a primary group at inclination ~144° and node ~5, and a secondary, smaller group at inclination ~139° node ~350°. The entire group spans several degrees across in their orbits, and make up a significant portion of the known comets in the Solar System — as of November 2015, about 3000 of the 4000 known comets belong to the Kreutz sungrazers group. Many of these short arc comets are assumed to have an orbital eccentricity of 1.0 because their long-term orbits are poorly constrained.

Kreutz comets discovered through the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) also have their numerical designations included in the list, whether or not they received official designations from the Minor Planet Center. Members that have been observed from the ground and those bright enough to be considered as great comets were also color coded, to further distinguish them from smaller ones only observed by satellites in space.

Until the 19th century Before 1100 Most of the comets listed here were potential members of the Kreutz family that were identified by Ichiro Hasegawa and Katherine Jane England, respectively. Comet names starting with X/ indicate a comet for which no reliable orbit is known. Comet designation Name/ discoverer(s) Period (years) e a(AU) q(AU) i(°) Node(°) Perihelion date X/-371 Great Comet of 371 BC 788.61 0.99992 – 0.007 141.32 345.43 -371/01/20 X/110 A1 – – 1.0 – – – – 110/01/15 X/133 – – 1.0 – – – – 133/01/20 X/191 Great Comet of 191 AD – 1.0 – – – – 191/09/15 X/193 – – 1.0 – – – – 193/04/15 X/252 F1 – – 1.0 – – – – 252/03/25 X/254 – – 1.0 – – – – 254/11/15 X/283 H1 – – 1.0 – – – – 283/04/22 X/302 J1 – – 1.0 – – – – 302/05/15 X/349 W1 Great Comet of 349 AD – 1.0 – – – – 349/11/23 X/363 Great Daylight Comet of 363 AD 864.98 0.99991 – 0.008 140.39 341.77 363/11/15 X/501 C1 – – 1.0 – – – – 501/02/13 X/501 G1 – – 1.0 – – – – 501/04/14 X/560 T1 – – 1.0 – – – – 560/10/04 X/676 A1 – – 1.0 – – – – 676/01/03 X/815 G1 – – 1.0 – – – – 815/04/15 X/840 X1 – – 1.0 – – – – 840/12/03

1100s to 1700s Comet designation Name/ discoverer(s) Period (years) e a(AU) q(AU) i(°) Node(°) Perihelion date X/1106 C1 Great Comet of 1106 748.04 0.99994 – 0.005 144.54 5.82 1106/01/26 X/1138 – 754.41 0.9999 – 0.008 141.35 344.67 1138/08/01 X/1529 C1 – – 1.0 – – – – 1529/02/05 C/1618 V1 – – 1.0 – 0.007 143 347.33 1618/11/08 C/1668 E1 Great Comet of 1668 – 1.0 – 0.067 144.38 3.215 1668/02/28 C/1689 X1 – – 1.0 – 0.064 63.204 283.75 1689/11/30 X/1702 D1 – – 1.0 – – – – 1702

1800s Comet designation Name/ discoverer(s) Period (years) e a(AU) q(AU) i(°) Node(°) Perihelion date C/1843 D1 Great Comet of 1843 513 0.999914 64.267 0.005527 144.3548 3.5272 1843/02/27 C/1880 C1 Great Southern Comet of 1880 – 1.0 – 0.005494 144.6666 7.7774 1880/01/28 X/1882 K1 Tewfik – 1.0 – 0.0053 144.5 7.69 1882/05/17 C/1882 R1-A Great September Comet of 1882 669 0.999899 76.7327 0.00775 142.0112 347.6563 1882/09/17 C/1882 R1-B 759 0.999907 83.3441 0.007751 142.0111 347.6566 C/1882 R1-C 874 0.999915 91.1882 0.007751 142.0105 347.6545 C/1882 R1-D 952 0.99992 96.8625 0.007749 142.0093 347.651 C/1887 B1 Great Southern Comet of 1887 – 1.0 – 0.00483 144.383 4.585 1887/01/11

20th century 1900 to 1979 Comet designation Name/ discoverer(s) Period (years) e a(AU) q(AU) i(°) Node(°) Perihelion date C/1945 X1 du Toit – 1.0 – 0.007516 141.8734 351.2006 1945/12/17 C/1963 R1 Pereyra 903 0.999946 93.7963 0.005065 144.5821 7.9393 1963/08/23 C/1965 S1-A Ikeya–Seki 2845 0.999915 91.6 0.007786 141.8642 346.9947 1965/10/21 C/1965 S1-B 1060 0.999925 103.7067 0.007778 141.861 346.9811 C/1970 K1 White–Ortiz–Bolelli – 1.0 – 0.00879 139.0714 337.0147 1970/05/14 C/1979 Q1 Solwind-1 – 1.0 – 0.0048 141.456 344.997 1979/08/30

1980 to 1995 Comet designation Name/ discoverer(s) Period (years) e a(AU) q(AU) i(°) Node(°) Perihelion date C/1981 B1 Solwind-2 – 1.0 – 0.00792 140.676 342.107 1981/01/27 C/1981 O1 Solwind-3 – 1.0 – 0.00612 141.706 345.957 1981/07/20 C/1981 V1 Solwind-4 – 1.0 – 0.0045 143.847 357.569 1981/11/04 C/1981 W1 Solwind-7 – 1.0 – 0.0048 135.48 24.63 1981/11/20 C/1983 N2 Solwind-8 – 1.0 – 0.0049 142.23 359.55 1983/07/07 C/1983 S2 Solwind-6 – 1.0 – 0.00753 143.987 358.679 1983/09/25 C/1984 O2 Solwind-5 – 1.0 – 0.01541 136.386 330.436 1984/07/28 C/1984 Q1 Solwind-9 – 1.0 – 0.0049 144.14 355.72 1984/08/23 C/1987 T2 SMM-1 – 1.0 – 0.00538 144.256 1.159 1987/10/06 C/1987 U4 SMM-2 – 1.0 – 0.00627 144.466 3.66 1987/10/18 C/1988 M1 SMM-3 – 1.0 – 0.00516 144.706 7.66 1988/06/27 C/1988 Q1 SMM-4 – 1.0 – 0.00591 144.436 3.2 1988/08/21 C/1988 T1 SMM-5 – 1.0 – 0.00513 144.786 10.351 1988/10/12 C/1988 U1 SMM-7 – 1.0 – 0.00579 144.716 7.981 1988/10/24 C/1988 W1 SMM-6 – 1.0 – 0.0059 144.796 14.021 1988/11/18 C/1989 L1 SMM-8 – 1.0 – 0.00557 144.636 6.24 1989/06/02 C/1989 N3 SMM-9 – 1.0 – 0.00462 144.786 14.902 1989/07/08 C/1989 S1 SMM-10 – 1.0 – 0.00476 144.768 9.636 1989/09/28

1996 Since 1996, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) had discovered more comets than anyone in history, of which 86% of the approximately 3,100 comets it had discovered (as of 2016) belong to the Kreutz sungrazer family. Comet designation Name/ discoverer(s) Period (years) e a(AU) q(AU) i(°) Node(°) Perihelion date C/1996 A2 SOHO-342 – 1.0 – 0.0054 141.76 6.86 1996/01/14 C/1996 B3 SOHO-9 – 1.0 – 0.0069 144.11 347.94 1996/01/28 C/1996 B4 SOHO-351 – 1.0 – 0.005 143.34 8 1996/01/21 C/1996 B5 SOHO-352 – 1.0 – 0.005 144.43 356.6 1996/01/29 – SOHO-3010 – 1.0 – – – – 1996/01/29 C/1996 D1 SOHO-14 – 1.0 – 0.0069 143.7 353.75 1996/02/19 C/1996 E2 SOHO-201 – 1.0 – 0.0055 143.84 6.11 1996/03/11 C/1996 F2 SOHO-16 – 1.0 – 0.0051 144.43 3.57 1996/03/25 C/1996 H1 SOHO-17 – 1.0 – 0.0052 144.43 2.99 1996/04/30 C/1996 L1 SOHO-300 – 1.0 – 0.005 143.84 12.92 1996/06/11 C/1996 L2 SOHO-817 – 1.0 – 0.0053 143.19 333.67 1996/06/14 C/1996 M1 SOHO-18 – 1.0 – 0.0054 144.5 3.29 1996/06/18 C/1996 M2 SOHO-20 – 1.0 – 0.005 143.42 12.91 1996/06/27 C/1996 M3 SOHO-818 – 1.0 – 0.0065 136.59 355.33 1996/06/21 C/1996 O1 SOHO-21 – 1.0 – 0.0061 143.96 351.95 1996/07/22 C/1996 O2 SOHO-22 – 1.0 – 0.0076 146.02 349.92 1996/07/24 C/1996 O3 SOHO-24 – 1.0 – 0.0067 146.22 348.73 1996/07/26 C/1996 O4 SOHO-23 – 1.0 – 0.007 144.43 350.31 1996/07/28 C/1996 Q2 SOHO-1 – 1.0 – 0.0052 144.4 4.7 1996/08/22 C/1996 Q3 SOHO-2 – 1.0 – 0.0051 144.18 5.11 1996/08/30 C/1996 R4 SOHO-354 – 1.0 – 0.0055 144.11 356.23 1996/09/15 C/1996 R5 SOHO-1095 – 1.0 – 0.0053 144.3 358.52 1996/09/04 C/1996 S3 SOHO-3 – 1.0 – 0.0059 143.9 357.32 1996/09/23 C/1996 V1 SOHO-368 – 1.0 – 0.0078 141.98 12.3 1996/11/28 C/1996 X1 SOHO-5 – 1.0 – 0.006 144.01 7.51 1996/12/12 C/1996 X2 SOHO-4 – 1.0 – 0.0054 143.39 1.99 1996/12/12 C/1996 Y1 SOHO-6 – 1.0 – 0.0055 144.24 5.48 1996/12/23 C/1996 Y2 SOHO-381 – 1.0 – 0.0056 143.95 5.34 1996/12/30

1997 Comet designation Name/ discoverer(s) Period (years) e a(AU) q(AU) i(°) Node(°) Perihelion date C/1997 B2 SOHO-7 – 1.0 – 0.007 144.82 352.68 1997/01/26 C/1997 B3 SOHO-258 – 1.0 – 0.0071 145.11 354.29 1997/01/22 C/1997 C2 SOHO-1724 – 1.0 – 0.0048 – – 1997/02/03 C/1997 E2 SOHO-903 – 1.0 – 0.005 143.38 359.18 1997/03/05 C/1997 G3 SOHO-196 – 1.0 – 0.005 143.18 359.49 1997/04/04 C/1997 G4 SOHO-197 – 1.0 – 0.005 144.08 358.58 1997/04/05 C/1997 G5 SOHO-198 – 1.0 – 0.0049 143.82 358.86 1997/04/06 C/1997 G6 SOHO-200 – 1.0 – 0.005 144.27 358.15 1997/04/11 C/1997 H3 SOHO-39 – 1.0 – 0.0083 138.71 335.99 1997/04/26 C/1997 J3 SOHO-178 – 1.0 – 0.0085 146.83 334.41 1997/05/10 C/1997 J4 SOHO-179 – 1.0 – 0.0094 138.93 23.14 1997/05/10 C/1997 J5 SOHO-927 – 1.0 – 0.0077 138.67 331 1997/05/03 C/1997 K1 SOHO-10 – 1.0 – 0.0058 143.58 1.54 1997/06/01 C/1997 K3 SOHO-182 – 1.0 – 0.0077 144.45 4.71 1997/05/26 C/1997 K4 SOHO-185 – 1.0 – 0.0056 142.75 12.54 1997/06/01 C/1997 K5 SOHO-181 – 1.0 – 0.009 137.6 346.2 1997/05/20 C/1997 K6 SOHO-183 – 1.0 – 0.0057 143.19 8.82 1997/05/31 C/1997 K7 SOHO-329 – 1.0 – 0.0089 139.41 356.14 1997/06/01 C/1997 L3 SOHO-12 – 1.0 – 0.0082 138.69 335.94 1997/06/13 C/1997 L4 SOHO-13 – 1.0 – 0.0051 143.96 358.09 1997/06/15 C/1997 L5 SOHO-180 – 1.0 – 0.008 146.13 356.96 1997/06/12 C/1997 M1 SOHO-15 – 1.0 – 0.0086 138.64 334.34 1997/06/30 C/1997 M3 SOHO-184 – 1.0 – 0.0056 146.1 354.23 1997/06/28 C/1997 M4 SOHO-190 – 1.0 – 0.0063 145.98 331.22 1997/06/18 C/1997 M5 SOHO-299 – 1.0 – 0.0059 127.42 351.32 1997/06/20 C/1997 N3 SOHO-199 – 1.0 – 0.0059 142.75 2.61 1997/07/04 C/1997 O3 SOHO-1096 – 1.0 – 0.0053 141.45 16.19 1997/08/01 C/1997 P1 SOHO-19 – 1.0 – 0.0055 144.35 5.46 1997/08/05 C/1997 P3 SOHO-38 – 1.0 – 0.0067 139.35 340.57 1997/08/08 C/1997 P4 SOHO-920 – 1.0 – 0.0096 145.97 355.21 1997/08/08 C/1997 P5 SOHO-921 – 1.0 – 0.0051 141.36 352.3 1997/08/09 C/1997 Q1 SOHO-26 – 1.0 – 0.0078 144.13 356.4 1997/09/01 C/1997 Q2 SOHO-25 – 1.0 – 0.0048 144.16 9.41 1997/08/24 C/1997 R1 SOHO-27 – 1.0 – 0.0063 144.03 356.27 1997/09/08 C/1997 R2 SOHO-28 – 1.0 – 0.0054 144.01 358.49 1997/09/15 C/1997 R3 SOHO-29 – 1.0 – 0.0054 144.45 4 1997/09/17 C/1997 S1 SOHO-30 – 1.0 – 0.0074 144.01 359.58 1997/09/30 C/1997 S2 SOHO-40 – 1.0 – 0.0078 143.81 358.73 1997/09/26 C/1997 S3 SOHO-274 – 1.0 – 0.0053 146.05 2.78 1997/09/24 C/1997 S5 SOHO-922 – 1.0 – 0.0058 143.79 6.57 1997/09/20 C/1997 S6 SOHO-1725 – 1.0 – 0.0051 – – 1997/09/21 C/1997 T2 SOHO-31 – 1.0 – 0.0044 144.58 3.76 1997/10/04 C/1997 T4 SOHO-32 – 1.0 – 0.0058 144.63 4.35 1997/10/06 C/1997 T5 SOHO-33 – 1.0 – 0.0051 143.67 359.77 1997/10/07 C/1997 T6 SOHO-218 – 1.0 – 0.005 144.4 4.75 1997/10/02 C/1997 T7 SOHO-219 – 1.0 – 0.0051 144.64 4.16 1997/10/08 C/1997 T8 SOHO-220 – 1.0 – 0.0052 142.27 3.31 1997/10/09 C/1997 T9 SOHO-1902 – 1.0 – – – – 1997/10/01 C/1997 U1 SOHO-41 – 1.0 – 0.0052 130.65 317.55 1997/10/29 C/1997 U2 SOHO-222 – 1.0 – 0.0051 143.79 359 1997/10/17 C/1997 U3 SOHO-223 – 1.0 – 0.0052 144.43 7.91 1997/10/20 C/1997 U4 SOHO-224 – 1.0 – 0.005 145.62 358.73 1997/10/22 C/1997 U5 SOHO-225 – 1.0 – 0.0051 142.93 2.87 1997/10/27 C/1997 U6 SOHO-226 – 1.0 – 0.0051 143.65 2.12 1997/10/27 C/1997 U7 SOHO-227 – 1.0 – 0.0051 144.23 6.94 1997/10/28 C/1997 V2 SOHO-34 – 1.0 – 0.0067 143.89 6.11 1997/11/09 C/1997 V3 SOHO-229 – 1.0 – 0.0075 136.47 323.19 1997/11/02 C/1997 V4 SOHO-230 – 1.0 – 0.005 144.1 3.37 1997/11/03 C/1997 V5 SOHO-231 – 1.0 – 0.0085 138.34 342.67 1997/11/08 C/1997 V6 SOHO-232 – 1.0 – 0.0054 144.37 356.55 1997/11/09 C/1997 V8 SOHO-1101 – 1.0 – 0.008 134.4 331.9 1997/11/07 C/1997 W1 SOHO-35 – 1.0 – 0.0055 144.52 4.09 1997/11/23 C/1997 W2 SOHO-42 – 1.0 – 0.005 142.35 12.75 1997/11/20 C/1997 W3 SOHO-334 – 1.0 – 0.0073 138.77 22.77 1997/11/25 C/1997 X1 SOHO-36 – 1.0 – 0.0051 143.91 359.01 1997/12/03 C/1997 X3 SOHO-233 – 1.0 – 0.0055 144.57 0.23 1997/12/03 C/1997 X4 SOHO-234 – 1.0 – 0.0054 142.93 6.09 1997/12/03 C/1997 X5 SOHO-235 – 1.0 – 0.0058 145.46 355.15 1997/12/08 C/1997 X6 SOHO-237 – 1.0 – 0.0066 146.21 351.41 1997/12/10 C/1997 Y1 SOHO-239 – 1.0 – 0.0054 141.83 3.55 1997/12/21 C/1997 Y2 SOHO-240 – 1.0 – 0.0054 143.32 9.52 1997/12/21 C/1997 Y3 SOHO-241 – 1.0 – 0.0066 146.84 348.04 1997/12/23

1998