LUWD #0012 – Star Parties, Comet ATLAS, Gemini, Messier Marathon

On: March 24, 2020

Tagged: astronomer, Comet ATLAS, Machholz, Messier Marathon, podcast, Star Parties

is an American amateur astronomer, science writer, and podcast host who is the most successful living visual comet discoverer. Credited with the discovery of 12 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, C/2010 F4 (Machholz), and most recently C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto) ^[1]^[2] 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.^[3] Amateur astronomer Machholz utilizes a variety of methods in his comet discoveries, in 1986 using 29×130 binoculars he discovered 96P/Machholz.^[4]

Machholz is 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.

LUWD #0012 – Star Parties, Comet ATLAS, Gemini, Messier Marathon

Stargazer Arizona Observatory

Donald Edward Machholz

Homemade 29×130 Binoculars