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It's certainly nice to see amateurs still making finds despite the presence of the surveys. Looking at the comet statistics, and excluding SOHO finds, the number of amateur discoveries (with the number representing visual discoveries in brackets) over the last ten years is:
2005: 1 (0)
2004: 3 (2)
2003: 1 (0)
2002: 7 (5)
2001: 1 (1)
2000: 1 (1)
1999: 6 (3)
1998: 4 (2)
1997: 4 (3)
1996: 4 (3)
There was even a recent discovery made by amateurs using the SWAN camera onboard SOHO - C/2005 P3 (SWAN). It was faintly visible through amateur scopes in the Northern Hemisphere.
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