Most recent update: January 17, 2025
Tally Pages
COMET PAGE
After 55 consecutive years of essentially non-stop systematic visual comet observing, and in significant part because of various age-associated health issues that are making this activity progressively more and more physically challenging, the time has come to conclude this particular chapter and move on to whatever else I may do in this life. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2024, I have “retired” from this lifelong passion of systematic visual comet observing, and am beginning the transition to the next phases of my astronomical (and other) endeavors. I do so with my lifetime visual comet tally standing at 760, a total which includes 533 separate comets (the remainder being additional returns of various periodic objects within that group of 533). During these past 55 years I have managed to make 8147 visual observations of all these comets.
My definition of “retirement” in this context remains somewhat fluid for at least the time being. At this time I don’t necessarily intend to walk away from visual comet observing entirely, but I will likely only observe those comets that are bright and/or “interesting” in some way, with my observing efforts being on an occasional rather than systematic basis. As I have done for the past several years, I will continue to write up and post descriptions of any further comets I add to my lifetime tally – at times including events from my personal life – with links to these write-ups provided on the right side of this page. It is conceivable that some of the objects I have previously observed as “asteroids” may exhibit cometary activity in the future (or may be found to have done so in the past), and I’ll accordingly add them to my tally retroactively.
As for the next “phases” that I am “transitioning” to, these are also rather fluid at this time, but for at least the near- to intermediate-term future I expect to continue, and perhaps may expand, my imaging activities via the Las Cumbres Observatory network, focusing primarily on comets (and other objects) in need of confirmation, as well as other objects that might be of interest. I also expect to continue my collaboration with LCO’s Global Sky Partners and the outstanding educators around the world who are a part of that effort. It is conceivable that there are other educational endeavors I might become involved in during the coming years, and if I do so I may mention them on the relevant pages and perhaps may also modify this page as appropriate.
It's been a good run, but it's time . . .
In addition to the tally pages links on the right, some additional internal links that are relevant here are:
Comet Resource Center: For the past several years I have maintained this page so it could be the primary umbrella for my visual comet observing efforts. It includes links to the tally pages I wrote and posted throughout those years, as well as to previous comet observing “programs” I initiated and to additional information about comet observing.
A statistical analysis of the observations I made of the 760 comets I visually observed from early 1970 up through the end of 2024. [Analysis currently in progress; the link will be activated once I have completed the analysis and posted it.]
“Ice and Stone 2020”: an on-line educational effort on the “small bodies” of the solar system I conducted in 2020 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of my first comet observations and the 25th anniversary of my discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp. The information contained within the various presentations is mostly still relevant, although parts of it are starting to become outdated here and there. It is conceivable that I may start to update these presentations as part of some future educational endeavors.
“the comet man”: the e-book auto-biography I wrote and published in 2015 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of my discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp.
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