Donald Machholz
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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. 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. His obituary at ''Astronomy'' stated, "In the years leading up to his death, Machholz was considered the most prolific visual comet discoverer alive." Career He spent more than 9,000 hours comet hunting in a career spanning over 50 years. 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) In 1985, comet Machholz 1985-e, was discovered using a homemade cardboard telescope ...
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Portsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval Medical Center Portsmouth are historic and active U.S. Navy facilities located in Portsmouth. History In 1620, the future site of Portsmouth was recognized as a suitable shipbuilding location by John Wood, a shipbuilder, who petitioned King James I of England for a land grant. The surrounding area was soon settled as a plantation community.City of Portsmouth, Virginia - History

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List Of Numbered Comets
This is a list of periodic comets that were numbered by the Minor Planet Center after having been observed on at least two occasions. Their orbital periods vary from 3.2 to 366 years. there are 436 numbered comets (1P–436P), most of them being members of the Jupiter-family (JFC). There are also 31 Encke-type comets (ETCs), 14 Halley-type comets (HTCs), five Chiron-type comets (CTCs), and one long-period comet ( 153P). About a third of these bodies are also near-Earth comets (NECs). In addition, eight numbered comets are principally classified as minor planets – five main-belt comets, two centaurs (CEN), and one Apollo asteroid – and display characteristics of both an asteroid and a comet. Occasionally, comets will break up into multiple chunks, as volatiles coming off the comet and rotational forces may cause it to break into two or more pieces. An extreme example of this is 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann, which broke into over 50 pieces during its 1995 perihelion. For a lar ...
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Gareth V
Sir Gareth (; Old French: ''Guerehet'', ''Guerrehet'') is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the youngest son of King Lot and Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain and Gaheris, and either a brother or half-brother of Mordred. Gareth is particularly notable in ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' in which he is also known by his nickname Beaumains. Arthurian legend French literature The earliest role of Gareth, appearing as Guerrehet, is found in the First Continuation of Chrétien de Troyes's ''Perceval ou le Conte du Graal''. As the protagonist of the story's final episode, he slays the giant known as "Little Knight", thus avenging the death of fairy king Brangemuer, son of Guingamuer and the fay Brangepart. Several of his adventures are narrated in the Vulgate Cycle (''Lancelot-Grail''). In the Vulgate ''Merlin'', Gareth and his brothers defect from their father King Lot and take service wit ...
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AMG/Parade
Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and now operates as a subsidiary of The Arena Group. Athlon Sports Athlon is best known for publishing preseason single-title sports annuals on professional and college sports. The annuals are sold at newsstands in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe. It is the U.S.'s largest publisher of sports annuals, ranking Number 1 in retail sales dollars and magazines sold. Athlon's 15 sports magazines include Athlon Sports monthly, Pro Football, Fantasy Football, National College Football, Southeastern Football, Atlantic Coast Football, Big Ten Football, Big 12 Football, Big East Football, Pac-10 Football, Baseball, College Basketball, Pro Basketball, Racing and Golf. Athlon's digital properties include AthlonSports.com, which has daily coverage of the ...
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Space
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding of the physical universe. However, disagreement continues between philosophers over whether it is itself an entity, a relationship between entities, or part of a conceptual framework. Debates concerning the nature, essence and the mode of existence of space date back to antiquity; namely, to treatises like the ''Timaeus'' of Plato, or Socrates in his reflections on what the Greeks called ''khôra'' (i.e. "space"), or in the ''Physics'' of Aristotle (Book IV, Delta) in the definition of ''topos'' (i.e. place), or in the later "geometrical conception of place" as "spac ...
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Library Of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.; it also maintains a conservation center in Culpeper, Virginia. The library's functions are overseen by the Librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the Architect of the Capitol. The Library of Congress is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its "collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 470 languages." Congress moved to Washington, D.C., in 1800 after holding sessions for eleven years in the temporary national capitals in New York City and Philadelphia. In both cities, members of the U.S. Congress had access to the sizable collection ...
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA and managed by the nearby California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The laboratory's primary function is the construction and operation of planetary robotic spacecraft, though it also conducts Earth-orbit and astronomy missions. It is also responsible for operating the NASA Deep Space Network. Among the laboratory's major active projects are the Mars 2020 mission, which includes the ''Perseverance'' rover and the '' Ingenuity'' Mars helicopter; the Mars Science Laboratory mission, including the ''Curiosity'' rover; the InSight lander (''Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport''); the ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter''; the ''Juno'' spacecraft orbiting Jupiter; the ''SMAP'' satellite for earth surface s ...
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Comet Hale-Bopp
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind acting upon the nucleus of the comet. Comet nuclei range from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers across and are composed of loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles. The coma may be up to 15 times Earth's diameter, while the tail may stretch beyond one astronomical unit. If sufficiently bright, a comet may be seen from Earth without the aid of a telescope and may subtend an arc of 30° (60 Moons) across the sky. Comets have been observed and recorded since ancient times by many cultures and religions. Comets usually have highly eccentric elliptical orbits, and they have a wide range of orbital periods, ranging from several years to potentially several milli ...
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Astronomical League
The Astronomical League is an umbrella organization of amateur astronomy societies. Currently their membership consists of over 280 organizations across the United States, along with a number of Members-at-Large, Patrons, and Supporting members. The mission of the Astronomical League is to promote the science of astronomy by (1) fostering astronomical education; (2) providing incentives for astronomical observation and research; and (3) assisting communication among amateur astronomical societies. The Astronomical League provides a number of observing awards to members locating and describing certain specified astronomical objects or events, and produces a periodical publication, ''The Reflector''. History The beginning of the Astronomical League dates back to 1939 when members of eleven amateur astronomical societies met at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Similar meetings followed in Pittsburgh, 1940, Washington D.C., 1941, and Detroit, 1946. At the la ...
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Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) is a research institute of the Smithsonian Institution, concentrating on astrophysical studies including galactic and extragalactic astronomy, cosmology, solar, earth and planetary sciences, theory and instrumentation, using observations at wavelengths from the highest energy gamma rays to the radio, along with gravitational waves.  Established in Washington, D.C., in 1890, the SAO moved its headquarters in 1955 to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where its research is a collaboration with the Harvard College Observatory (HCO) and the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. In 1973, the Smithsonian and Harvard formalized the collaboration as the Center for Astrophysics , Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) under a single Director. History Samuel Pierpont Langley, the third Secretary of the Smithsonian, founded the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory on the south yard of the Smithsonian Castle (on the U.S. National Mall) on March 1 ...
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Edgar Wilson Award
__NOTOC__ The Edgar Wilson Award is an annual international award established in 1998 consisting of a monetary award and a plaque allocated annually to amateur comet discoverers. It is administered by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) through the IAU's Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT). Origins Edgar Wilson was an American businessman who lived in Lexington, Kentucky. After he died in 1976, the Edgar Wilson Charitable Trust Fund was set up and awards were allocated in accordance with the terms of his bequest. Eligibility Each year the award is divided between amateur astronomers who during that year, using amateur equipment, discover one or more new comets which are then officially named after them. The annual total award is of the order of US$20,000 but fluctuates from year to year. In any year when there are no eligible discoverers, CBAT makes the award to the amateur astronomer or astronomers it considers "have made the greatest contribution toward p ...
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