Occupation Amateur Astronomer Years active 1960–present | Name Donald Machholz Role Astronomer | |
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Full Name Donald Edward Machholz Born October 7, 1952 (age 72) ( 1952-10-07 ) Portsmouth, Virginia, United StatesAstronomer, visual discoverer of comets examines his 18" reflector telescope Spouse(s) Michele AnneLouise Machholz Books The Observing Guide to the Messier Marathon: A Handbook and Atlas Discovered Comet Machholz, 96P/Machholz, 141P/Machholz | ||
The return of Comet 96P/Machholz 1
Donald Edward Machholz, born October 7, 1952 in Portsmouth, Virginia, is an American amateur astronomer who is the most successful living visual comet discoverer in the world. Credited with the discovery of 11 comets, that include the periodic comets 96P/Machholz, 141P/Machholz, the non-periodic C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) that were visible with binoculars in the northern sky in 2004 and 2005, and most recently, C/2010 F4 (Machholz). In 1985, comet Machholz 1985-e, was discovered using a homemade cardboard telescope with a wide aperture, 10 inches across, that gave it a broader field of view than most commercial telescopes. Amateur astronomer Machholz utilizes a variety of methods in his comet discoveries, in 1986 using 29×130 binoculars he discovered 96P/Machholz.
Contents
- The return of Comet 96PMachholz 1
- More on Comet 96PMachholz 1 Giant CME appeared to envelop the comet in January 2002
- Awards
- Authored
- Personal life
- References
Machholz is also considered to be one of the inventors of the Messier marathon, which is a race to observe all the Messier objects in a single night.
More on Comet 96P/Machholz 1 -- Giant CME appeared to envelop the comet in January 2002!
Awards
Authored
Personal life
In 2014 he married photographer and astronomer, Michele Machholz.