Top Results for Comets

Charles Messier was a French astronomer active in the late eighteenth century. He created a detailed catalog of over eleven hundred deep-sky objects including galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae. This work significantly aided amateur astronomers attempting to identify comets by providing visual ref...

Caroline Herschel was a pioneering eighteenth-century astronomer. Born in Germany, she made significant contributions to observational astronomy alongside her brother William. Her meticulous observations led to the discovery of numerous comets and nebulae, notably improving comet catalogs. She becam...

Heinrich Olbers was a German astronomer and physician who practiced medicine by day while making significant contributions to celestial mechanics and astronomy. In the early 19th century, he discovered the large asteroids Pallas and Vesta, and developed a method for calculating the orbits of comets...

Edmond Halley was a prominent 17th-century English scientist whose work significantly advanced astronomy, physics, and mathematics. Notably, he accurately calculated the orbit of a periodic comet, now known as Halley’s Comet, demonstrating innovative use of elliptical orbits. He also supported Isaac...

Carolyn Shoemaker was an American astronomer known for discovering and co-discovering comets and asteroids, despite beginning her astronomical career without formal scientific training. Working closely with Eugene Shoemaker and David Levy, she co-discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1993; the comet'...

Maria Margarethe Kirch was a German astronomer who discovered the comet C/1702 H1 in 1702, becoming the first woman credited with discovering a comet. Originally educated by her father and later her husband, astronomer Gottfried Kirch, she actively assisted in astronomical observations and calendar...

Carolyn S. Shoemaker (1929–2021) was an American astronomer who became one of the most prolific discoverers of comets in history. Working at the Palomar Observatory in California, she identified more than 30 comets and hundreds of asteroids over her career. Her most significant discovery was Comet S...

Edward Emerson Barnard (1857–1923) was an American observational astronomer who joined the staff of Lick Observatory in California and later moved to Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin. He discovered Jupiter's fifth moon, Amalthea, in 1892, the first Jovian satellite found since Galileo's time, and mea...

Maria Mitchell was an American astronomer who, in 1847, discovered a comet subsequently named "Miss Mitchell's Comet." This achievement earned her a gold medal prize from the King of Denmark and made her the first female professional astronomer in the United States. In 1865, she joined Vassar Colleg...

David Levy is a Canadian amateur astronomer and science writer best known for co-discovering Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 alongside Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker in 1993. The comet's collision with Jupiter in July 1994 marked the first time astronomers directly observed a major impact between Solar System...

Fred Lawrence Whipple was an American astronomer whose work focused on comets, meteors, and artificial satellites. In 1950 he proposed the "dirty snowball" model, describing a cometary nucleus as a mixture of volatile ices and dust whose heating near the Sun produces a coma and tails. He also direct...

Edward Emerson Barnard was an American astronomer renowned for his observational work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1916, he discovered Barnard's Star, notable for having the highest proper motion of any known star relative to the Sun. A pioneer of astrophotography, he also cataloged...

Fred Lawrence Whipple (1906-2004) was an American astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of comets and meteors. While working at Harvard College Observatory, he proposed in 1950 the 'icy conglomerate' model (popularly known as the 'dirty snowball' theory) suggesting that comet nu...

Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers was a German astronomer and physician who made significant contributions to celestial science in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Practicing medicine by day in Bremen, he pursued astronomy at night, discovering the large asteroids Pallas in 1802 and Vesta in 1...

Brian Marsden was a British astronomer recognized for his work on calculating the orbits of comets, asteroids, and other small Solar System bodies. He directed the Minor Planet Center from 1978 to 2006 and also led the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. His precise orbital calculations and c...

Robert H. McNaught is a Scottish-Australian astronomer recognized for his extensive work in the field of observational astronomy and minor planet discovery. He has been an active participant in various comet and asteroid surveys, including the Siding Spring Survey in Australia. Throughout his career...

Michael F. A'Hearn was an American astronomer whose work focused in part on comets and other small Solar System bodies. He led NASA's Deep Impact mission, which sent an impactor into comet Tempel 1 in 2005 so that the encounter could be observed as a scientific investigation of the comet. He is ther...

David H. Levy is a Canadian amateur astronomer and science writer known for his work on comets and public communication about astronomy. He was a co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, whose fragments struck Jupiter in 1994. The entry is relevant to readers interested in comet discovery, amateur c...

Johann Franz Encke was a German astronomer who lived from 1791 to 1865 and worked in observational astronomy and celestial mechanics. He identified the relationship between several historical comet observations and calculated the orbit of what became known as Encke's Comet. With an orbital period of...

Alan Hale is an American astronomer best known for co-discovering Comet Hale-Bopp in 1995 with Thomas Bopp. The discovery made the comet one of the most widely observed astronomical objects of the late 1990s, but Hale's work has also included research and public communication about comets. He founde...

Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers was a German astronomer and physician who lived from 1758 to 1840. He discovered the asteroids Pallas in 1802 and Vesta in 1807, and he also discovered several comets. Olbers developed a method for calculating cometary orbits and is associated with Olbers' paradox, the questi...

Kaoru Ikeya is a Japanese amateur astronomer who co-discovered Comet Ikeya-Seki with Tsutomu Seki in 1965. Ikeya-Seki is a sungrazing comet, a comet whose orbit brings it very close to the Sun. The entry connects Ikeya with twentieth-century comet observation and with the role of amateur observers i...

John Russell Hind was an English astronomer associated with George Bishop's observatory in London during the nineteenth century. He discovered ten asteroids, including Iris in 1847, and his work also included observations of comets and other celestial objects. Hind represents the period when astrono...

Hal Weaver is an American planetary scientist and astronomer whose research includes comets and other small bodies in the solar system. He has used space- and ground-based observations to investigate cometary nuclei, atmospheres, and activity. Weaver served as project scientist for NASA's New Horizo...

Yuji Hyakutake was a Japanese amateur astronomer known for discovering Comet Hyakutake, officially designated C/1996 B2. He found the comet in 1996 while conducting observations from Japan, and it later became prominent because it passed relatively close to Earth and developed a bright, extended app...

Thomas Bopp was an American amateur astronomer who independently co-discovered Comet Hale-Bopp in 1995 while observing from Arizona. The comet was also independently discovered by professional astronomer Alan Hale, and it was subsequently designated C/1995 O1. Bopp's discovery made him part of the p...