Donald Machholz

Donald Edward Machholz (October 7, 1952 – August 9, 2022) was an American amateur astronomer who was credited with the discovery of 12 comets that bear his name.

Donald Machholz
Machholz in November 2019
Born
Donald Edward Machholz

(1952-10-07)October 7, 1952
Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.[1]
DiedAugust 9, 2022(2022-08-09) (aged 69)
Wikieup, Arizona, U.S.
OccupationAmateur astronomer
Years active1970–2022
Spouse
Michele Machholz
​
​
(m. 2014)​

Personal life and death

In 2014, he married photojournalist Michele Machholz. They resided at the Stargazer Ranch in Wikieup, Arizona.

Machholz died in the early morning of August 9, 2022, at his home in Wikieup, Arizona, from complications of COVID-19.[2][3][4] His obituary at Astronomy stated, "In the years leading up to his death, Machholz was considered the most prolific visual comet discoverer alive."[3]

Career

He spent more than 9,000 hours comet hunting in a career spanning over 50 years.[1][5] These comets 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 C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto)[6][7] 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.[8] Machholz utilized a variety of methods in his comet discoveries, in 1986 using 29×130 binoculars he discovered 96P/Machholz.[9]

Machholz was one of the inventors of the Messier Marathon, which is a race to observe all the Messier objects in a single night.[3]

Asteroid 245983 Machholz, discovered by Kazimieras Černis, was named in honor of Machholz in November 2017.[10]

Comets discovered
  • 1978 Comet Machholz (1978l)
  • 1985 Comet Machholz (1985e)
  • 1986 Comet 96P/Machholz
  • 1988 Comet Machholz (1988j)
  • 1992 Comet Tanaka-Machholz (1992d)
  • 1992 Comet Machholz (1992k)
  • 1994 Comet Nakamura-Nishimura-Machholz (1994m)
  • 1994 Comet 141P/Machholz 2
  • 1994 Comet Machholz 1994r
  • 2004 Comet Machholz (C/2004 Q2)
  • 2010 Comet Machholz C/2010 F4
  • 2018 C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto)

Awards and honors

Books
  • The Observing Guide to the Messier Marathon: A Handbook and Atlas
  • 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

References
  1. Joe Rao (August 17, 2022). "In Memoriam: Famed 'Comet Hunter' Don Machholz dies at 69". Space.com. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  2. "Famous amateur astronomer Donald Machholz died". The Universe Space Tech. August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  3. Parks, Jake (August 10, 2022). "Donald Machholz, comet hunter and co-inventor of Messier marathon, dies at age 69". Astronomy. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  4. "Don Machholz, 1952–2022". EarthSky.org. August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  5. Joe Rao (August 12, 2022). "Remembering Donald Machholz, 1952 - 2022". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  6. Gus Thomson (March 30, 2010). "Patience leads to new comet discovery by Colfax amateur astronomer". Auburn Journal. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  7. Roger W. Sinnott (March 27, 2010). "New Comet Machholz". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  8. "Amateur Astronomer Nails Down His Second Comet". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. June 16, 1985. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  9. Alan MacRobert (December 2, 2008). "A Very Oddball Comet". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  10. "Small-Body Database Lookup".

General references
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