# Astronomy: What actually happens (typically) when an amateur discovers a comet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 15, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790 "2015-04-15T23:11:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/1 "2015-04-15T23:11:46Z")
In an episode of _The Simpsons_, Bart discovers a new, never before documented comet in the night sky while messing around with Principal Skinner’s telescope (without permission, of course). He subsequently receives some notoriety from the scientific community and a fair amount of ire from Principal Skinner, who had wanted to find one himself. That makes me wonder - what usually happens in real life? For example, if I am fooling around in my backyard and see something that I think is a new comet, how would I report it? Call a local university and ask them to have a grad student check it out with the big university telescope? Call NASA? Call 1-800-UC-COMET? Write up a report on my own and submit it to peer reviewed astronomy journals? Also, what sort of recognition can one typically expect to get for finding a comet that is subsequently confirmed as a never-before-seen (or at least documented) comet? Co-authorship of the journal article announcing the find? The right to name the comet? An honorary degree in Astronomy? An actual research degree in Astronomy (one did, after all, perform original research)? This question can also apply to finding things other than comets that would also be expected to not be common or ordinary findings - e.g. finding a new galaxy, black hole, or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/2 "2015-04-15T23:36:35Z")
To paraphrase The Big Bang Theory - “You’ll never again have to pay for a drink in an college town that has a decent Astronomy program.” As far as naming, Comets are traditionally named after their discoverers, hence “Halley,” “Shoemaker-Levy,” “PANSTAARS” (that one was discovered by a automated telescope). ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/3 "2015-04-15T23:51:05Z")
Well, if you discover something, the first thing you do is report it. There’s more information on this web site: [Information You Should Include In A Discovery Report](http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/DiscoveryInfo.html). Basically, what you do is you send an email to these people with the following information: > [@](#): > > All discovery reports should include the following: > > ``` > your name > your address and contact details (preferably e-mail address, otherwise telephone/fax number) > date and UT time of observation > observation method (e.g., naked eye, visual telescopic observation, photographic, or telescopic CCD) > specific details on instrumentation (aperture size, f/-ratio, etc.) and exposures (type of film or CCD, length of exposure, etc.) > observation site (name of location, giving either city/town and state/province/country, or some other geographical name nearby); longitude and latitude and elevation above sea level can be useful > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/4 "2015-04-16T02:12:13Z")
And if the same discoverer finds more than one comet (quite a common circumstance, actually), it gets a number after its name. IIRC, the most prolific comet-discoverer is SOHO, a solar observation satellite. You seldom hear about the ones that it discovers, though, since it typically doesn’t discover them until a few hours before their demise. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/5 "2015-04-16T02:18:20Z")
How does an amateur know that comet is a new discovery? Is it assumed most never return within one’s lifetime? And, the era of amateur comet discoveries is \<\<\< period of 99% of all comets? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/6 "2015-04-16T02:20:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And if the same discoverer finds more than one comet (quite a common circumstance, actually), it gets a number after its name. > > IIRC, the most prolific comet-discoverer is SOHO, a solar observation satellite. You seldom hear about the ones that it discovers, though, since it typically doesn’t discover them until a few hours before their demise. Chronos, isn’t there a Japanese amateur with a huge number of discoveries? I think I know what astronomy book I read about him. And, there’s an American woman with many to her name. I’ll look it up and let you know what the story is on these two. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/7 "2015-04-16T02:24:17Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Also, what sort of recognition can one typically expect to get for finding a comet that is subsequently confirmed as a never-before-seen (or at least documented) comet? It gets named after you. robert\_columbia\_2015a [QUOTE=robert\_columbia] Co-authorship of the journal article announcing the find? The right to name the comet? An honorary degree in Astronomy? An actual research degree in Astronomy (one did, after all, perform original research)? [/QUOTE] Very cool bragging rights. You’ll probably get to meet Neil deGrasse Tyson. > [@robert\_columbia](#): > > This question can also apply to finding things other than comets that would also be expected to not be common or ordinary findings - e.g. finding a new galaxy, black hole, or somesuch. Not so much. But do ask Neil about the New Horizons and how interesting Pluto is and what eegits thought it less than a planet 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/8 "2015-04-16T15:17:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Jinx** : > > Chronos, isn’t there a Japanese amateur with a huge number of discoveries? I think I know what astronomy book I read about him. And, there’s an American woman with many to her name. I’ll look it up and let you know what the story is on these two. For suitable values of “huge” and “many”, sure (and the Japanese amateur you’re thinking of might be Hyakutake, who discovered quite an impressive one in the 90s). But no human can keep up with the rates automatic observatories are capable of. SOHO’s comet discoveries were somewhere in the vicinity of 1/day. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/9 "2015-04-16T18:20:15Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > As far as naming, Comets are traditionally named after their discoverers, hence “Halley,” “Shoemaker-Levy,” “PANSTAARS” (that one was discovered by a automated telescope). The most famous Shoemaker-Levy comet was number 9, the one that ran into Jupiter. Another fun fact, it’s not named after someone with a hyphenated name… it’s named after three people, two of whom were married and shared the name Shoemaker. This was the ninth periodic comet these three had found working as a team. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/10 "2015-04-16T18:27:36Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > How does an amateur know that comet is a new discovery? There was one case where one person took a photo of the sky, a second pointed to it and said, “What’s that?,” and a third said, “That’s a comet.” The comet was named for all three. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/11 "2015-04-16T22:58:54Z")
To reiterate **RadicalPi** ’s answer above, your absolute first port of call in any such cases is Harvard’s [Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bureau_for_Astronomical_Telegrams). A new comet, a new asteroid, a new supernova. Anything of the sort, that’s who you contact. They are just the universally recognised global clearinghouse for these matters. A status helped by the fact that for many years the guy in charge was the late [Brian Marsden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_G._Marsden). For a very long time, the basic rule known to all astronomers, either amateur or professional, was that, if it’s time critical, it goes to Brian Marsden at Harvard. In terms of recognition, we’ll again reiterate that you automatically get you name attached if it’s a new comet. Though that’s pretty much it. But that’s a form of immortality in and of itself. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomy-what-actually-happens-typically-when-an-amateur-discovers-a-comet/717790/12 "2015-04-17T02:30:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For suitable values of “huge” and “many”, sure (and the Japanese amateur you’re thinking of might be Hyakutake, who discovered quite an impressive one in the 90s). But no human can keep up with the rates automatic observatories are capable of. SOHO’s comet discoveries were somewhere in the vicinity of 1/day. Roger that! (We really need a “LIKE” button!) 😉