LUWD #0041 A Decade of Comets and a Month of Meteors
There are several minor meteor showers but the major one over the next couple weeks is the Orionid Meteor Shower, brought to you by Halley’s Comet. DON MACHHOLZContinue Reading
There are several minor meteor showers but the major one over the next couple weeks is the Orionid Meteor Shower, brought to you by Halley’s Comet. DON MACHHOLZContinue Reading
To see Mars well you have to look at it for a long time. Not just a peek. The more you look, the more you’ll see. DON MACHHOLZContinue Reading
Mars will be closest to the earth on October 6, when it will be 39 million miles from the United States, and 62 million kilometers from the rest of the world. DON MACHHOLZContinue Reading
The further north you live, the greater the effect. So, Santa Claus, this one’s for you! DON MACHHOLZContinue Reading
Here is the surprising thing: 21 of the 26 individuals found their first comet during this decade, 1975 through 1984 DON MACHHOLZContinue Reading
William Bradfield of Australia get used to his name; he discovered 10 of the 33 comets covered in A Decade of Comets. DON MACHHOLZContinue Reading
I began to wonder: what am I missing? Does everyone else know something that I don’t? DON MACHHOLZContinue Reading
is an American amateur astronomer, who is number one in the world for visual comet discoveries. 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.
The homemade binoculars I used to discover #96p, 2 deg S of M31. The song, “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins was playing on the radio.
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