![]() Eventually, he spent nearly 9,000 hours comet hunting, during which he discovered a total of 12 comets that bear his name. His second find took another 1,742 hours. Then, on New Year’s Day of 1975, he kicked off a personal comet-hunting project, And after 1,700 hours of searching, he found his first comet on September 12, 1978. At age 13, he started exploring the sky with his first telescope: a modest 2-inch refractor. According to his wife, Michele, he passed away unexpectedly and swiftly from COVID-19 early that morning.īorn in 1952 in Portsmouth, Virginia, Don became interested in astronomy at age 8. ![]() One of America’s premier comet hunters, Donald Machholz, died on August 9th. Green (Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams) Don Machholz (right) showed his large comet-hunting binoculars to Brian Marsden (left) during a visit in the 1990s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |