In learning about the heavens, we learn about ouselves - how our Blue Planet came to be and imagine what might be beyond our vision.
Donald Machholz, born in 1952 in Portsmouth, Virginia, is an American amateur astronomer from Colfax, California.
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.
According to Wikipedia, he is the most successful living visual comet hunter in the United States, being credited with the discovery of 11 comets, including the periodic comets 96P/Machholz, 141P/Machholz, the non-periodic C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) that was easily visible in binoculars in the northern sky in 2004 and 2005, and most recently, C/2010 F4 (Machholz).
On the morning of March 23, after 607 hours of observation since his last discovery, Don Machholz managed to bag his 11th comet, now officially known as C/2010 F4 (Machholz). Read what he writes about this exciting discovery!
"At 4:12 I picked up a faint fuzzy object, rather small. I looked closely to see if it was a double star or a small grouping of stars that simply appeared fuzzy. It was not. I then grabbed my star map to see if there were any known galaxies or nebulae in the area. It took me a couple of minutes to determine exactly where I was on the star map. There was nothing shown on the map.
"A more detailed star atlas sat in my observatory. Our dog Shadow and I went out to the
observatory to bring back the "Uranometria 2000" atlas. It showed nothing. I marked the location on the map with the date and time. At this point I made a drawing of the area, showing the location of the comet in relation to the surrounding stars. If it is a comet it should show motion in an hour's time. This detailed drawing would help determine both the rate of travel and the direction of travel. This drawing was made to show the view I had in the telescope, with south to the top.
"An even more detailed star atlas is on the computer in my house. We (the dog follows me everywhere) went inside and turned on the computer, bringing up a program called "The Sky". It showed a couple of very faint (magnitude 15) stars in the area, too faint for me to see.
"There is a chance that this could be a known comet. At any time there are a few previously discovered comets visible in the sky, perhaps this was one of them. I went to the Internet to a site which lists such comets (http://www.aerith.net/). It showed no comets in the area.
"By now it was 4:37 AM. I had first seen the object 25 minutes ago, and had 40 more minutes until morning twilight would interfere with my view of it.
"I then went out to the observatory and uncovered the 10-inch reflector. I quickly found the location and put in an eyepiece giving 64x. I could see that the object was fuzzy, round and made a mental note of where it was in relation to the nearby stars. It seemed to me like it had moved a bit. I also uncovered the 5" homemade binoculars and examined the comet. In this instrument it was difficult to see, but it was visible.[...]
"After moving the American Flag out of its mount on the corner of the deck and leaning against the railing in order to get it out of my view, I began at 3:35 AM, picking up where I had left off, in the southern sky. I look through the eyepiece with my right eye, with an eye patch on my left, and slowly sweep southward to the horizon. At the end of each sweep I raise the telescope to the beginning position, move it slightly east, and sweep again. There are a lot of galaxies in this area, and I picked up a few: NGC 1316, 1398, 1395, 1399, 1404 and a planetary nebula, NGC 1360 (which I had once accidentally reported as a possible comet in 1977). With each of these objects, all looking like faint comets, I confirmed that they were not comets by checking them against my Atlas of the Heavens charts that I had with me at the telescope. This chart shows most of the galaxies and nebulae that I would normally pick up while comet hunting.
"Shortly after 5AM I was out at the 10" telescope, making an estimate of the comet's brightness, size and shape. It had no tail. It was also showing some movement toward the east, and perhaps, it appeared to me, slightly to the north. I later learned that it's actual motion was 20 arcminutes (one third of a degree) per day to the east and slightly south. So in one hour's time it had moved less than an arcminute, a very small amount. Finally, the twilight was so strong I could no longer see the comet, so I came in to report it.
"I searched for 1458.25 hours since my previous find (of my ninth comet) nearly ten years ago. (One does not include my independent discovery of Periodic Comet de Vico on September 18, 1995, which does not carry my name). I have searched for 7047.25 hours since I began comet seeking on January 1, 1975, nearly thirty years ago.
"I assembled the e-mail and sent it to the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT). I then faxed the same message to them. A follow-up phone call confirmed that the message had been received. I got ready to go to work; I work as a research and development technician at Coherent, a laser and optics company. I also work as a real estate appraiser.
"It was six hours before I heard the news from Dan Green of the CBAT. The comet was confirmed, imaged by Robert McNaught and G. Garradd. It was named Comet C/2004 Q2, the next day (Machholz) was added to it."
Don recounts his legendary comet hunt as well providing tips and charts for otheraspiring star gazers in his four books.
Books by Don Machholz are:
- The Observing Guide to the Messier Marathon: A Handbook and Atlas
- Messier marathon observer's guide: Handbook and atlas : a complete guide to running your own Messier marathon
- Decade of Comets: A Study of the 33 Comets Discovered by Amateur Astronomers Between 1975 and 1984
- An observer's guide to comet Hale-Bopp: Making the most of Comet Hale-Bopp : when and where to observe Comet Hale-Bopp and what to look for
His fourth astronomy book, The Messier Catalogue, is a list of one hundred and ten galaxies, star clusters and nebulae, and includes many of the brightest and best-known objects in the sky. Amateur astronomers who find all the objects on the list in one night have successfully completed the Messier Marathon.
The Observing Guide to the Messier Marathon contains over 90 easy-to-use star maps to guide the observer from one object to the next, and provides tips for a successful night of observing. Don Machholz also tells the story of the eighteenth-century astronomer, Charles Messier, and how he came to compile his extensive catalogue. His complete guide to the Messier Marathon will help the amateur astronomer to observe the Messier Objects throughout the year, using a small telescope or even a pair of binoculars.
Don Machholz is an engineer in Auburn, California. Interested in astronomy since childhood, he is a renowned comet hunter, having discovered nine comets that bear his name. He writes articles for local California newspapers and radio stations for special astronomical events. Between 1988 and 2000, Don Machholz was the Comets Recorder for the Association of Lunar and Planetary Recorders.
A Decade of Comets
"In the early 1980's, I wished to determine if comets were still being discovered as they were in the earlier days of astronomy. I conducted my own study of these comets, centered mainly on those found visually since I began searching for comets in 1975. As this study approached 100 pages, I saw how valuable this information would be to others and decided to make it available in book form." Entitled A Decade of Comets - A Study of the 33 Comets Found By Amateurs Between 1975 and 1984, the study was self-published in 1985. It has since been translated into a few foreign languages and has been helpful to a few of our successful comet hunters. Download a Microsoft Word version of the book. (24.5 MB)
Aside from his regular occupations in Colfax and Auburn, Don also teaches a non-credited class at Sierra College in Grass Valley, California, twice a year. The class is called "Exploring the Night Sky" and runs six weeks in a row. To learn more about Don's extaordinary history and his 11th comet discovery, visit his website, The Comet Hunter.