Thomas Boles (born 1944 in
Lennoxtown
Lennoxtown ( gd, Baile na Leamhnachd, ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire council area and the historic county of Stirlingshire, Scotland at the foot of the Campsie Fells, which are just to the north. The town had a population of 4,094 at the 201 ...
in Scotland) is a Scottish amateur
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
, discoverer of
astronomical objects
An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are often us ...
, author, broadcaster and former communications and
computer engineer
Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers ...
, who observes from his private "Coddenham Observatory" () in
Coddenham
Coddenham is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located to the north of the A14 road, 8 miles north of Ipswich, the parish also includes the hamlet of Coddenham Green. In 2005 its population was ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, United Kingdom.
He is known for having discovered a record number of
supernovae
A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when a ...
.
The main-belt asteroid
7648 Tomboles is named in his honor.
He was President of the
British Astronomical Association
The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers.
Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborati ...
from 2003 to 2005 and Vice President from 2005 to 2007. He is a Fellow of the
Royal Astronomical Society
(Whatever shines should be observed)
, predecessor =
, successor =
, formation =
, founder =
, extinction =
, merger =
, merged =
, type = NGO ...
and an Examinations Moderator in astronomy with the
International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...
. At the
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
, he was a member of ''Division VIII Galaxies & the Universe'' and "Commission 28" until 2012 and 2015, respectively, and is currently a member of IAU's division C and J (Education, Outreach and Heritage; Galaxies and Cosmology).
Boles has co-authored three text books on popular astronomy and has published numerous articles in ''
Astronomy Now
''Astronomy Now'' is a monthly British magazine on astronomy and space. According to the Royal Astronomical Society, ''Astronomy Now'' is the "principal amateur astronomy magazine in Britain" with a reputed circulation of 24,000.
The magazine f ...
'', ''
Sky and Telescope
''Sky & Telescope'' (''S&T'') is a monthly American magazine covering all aspects of amateur astronomy, including the following:
*current events in astronomy and space exploration;
*events in the amateur astronomy community;
*reviews of astronomi ...
''; the Austrian ''The Star Observer'', the ''
Journal of the British Astronomical Association
The ''Journal of the British Astronomical Association'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of astronomy published by the British Astronomical Association since October 1890. It is currently edited by Philip Jennings and publishes original re ...
'', and in the journal ''The Astronomer''. In 2007 he co-authored a research paper about a "giant outburst two years before the core-collapse of a massive star" in the journal ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
''.
Boles holds a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
. He held director level appointments over a period of 18 years with four multinational computer companies. He retired in 2001 to dedicate himself to astronomy work and to help with the public
Outreach
Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...
of astronomy.
Discoveries
He currently holds the record of spotting the most supernovae by one person: 149 supernovae.
As of 2003, Boles and
Mark Armstrong are the "most successful exploding star hunters in history."
He broke the record after discovering his 124th supernova '2009ij', followed by supernova number 125 '2009io' a few nights later. The previous record holder was Swiss astronomer
Fritz Zwicky
Fritz Zwicky (; ; February 14, 1898 – February 8, 1974) was a Swiss astronomer. He worked most of his life at the California Institute of Technology in the United States of America, where he made many important contributions in theoretical and ...
, who discovered 123 supernovae before his death in 1974. The record was unbroken for 36 years.
Boles has also discovered a
nova
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...
in the
Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda Galaxy (IPA: ), also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224 and originally the Andromeda Nebula, is a barred spiral galaxy with the diameter of about approximately from Earth and the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way. The gala ...
and
84417 Ritabo, an
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
in the middle region of the
main-belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
, which he named after his wife Rita Boles.
Awards
In 2008 he was awarded the Merlin Medal by the
British Astronomical Association
The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers.
Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborati ...
in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of astronomy. In 2008 the inner main-belt asteroid
7648 Tomboles, discovered by Japanese astronomers
Yoshikane Mizuno
is a Japanese astronomer and co-discoverer of asteroids. The Minor Planet Center credits him with the discovery of 52 minor planets he made at the Kani Observatory () between 1989 and 1993.
The inner main-belt asteroid 4541 Mizuno, discovered ...
and
Toshimasa Furuta
is a Japanese astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets ...
, was named after him in recognition of his contribution to astronomy.
He received the ''
George Alcock
George Eric Deacon Alcock, MBE (28 August 1912, in Peterborough, Northamptonshire – 15 December 2000) was an English astronomer. He was one of the most successful visual discoverers of novae and comets.
George’s interest in astronomy wa ...
Award'' from ''The Astronomer Magazine''. He presented the Inaugural Thomas Tannahill Memorial lecture in 2009 at the request of the ''
Astronomical Society of Glasgow
The Astronomical Society of Glasgow (ASG) was founded in 1954 in Glasgow, Scotland, by amateur astronomers and is dedicated to promoting an interest in Astronomy.
Membership of the Society
Membership of the Society is open to everyone and a ...
''.
Public outreach
Boles has co-authored three text books on popular astronomy:
* ''2008 Yearbook of Astronomy'', edited by Sir
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter.
Moore was president of the Brit ...
– (
Pan Macmillan
Pan Books is a publishing imprint (trade name), imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the United Kingdom, British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany.
Pan Books b ...
)
* ''More Small Astronomical Observatories'', edited by Sir
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter.
Moore was president of the Brit ...
– (
Springer Science+Business Media
Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing.
Originally founded in 1842 in ...
)
* ''The Science and Art of CDD Astronomy'', edited Ratledge – (Springer Science+Business Media)
Boles's Television broadcasts include: Co-presenting BBC Tomorrow's World and guest appearances on several BBC programmes such as ''
The Sky at Night
''The Sky at Night'' is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first broadcast on 24 April 1957 until 7 January 2013. The latter date ...
'', ''Final Frontiers'', ''All Night Star Party'' (from
Jodrell Bank
Jodrell Bank Observatory () in Cheshire, England, hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astron ...
); BBC Astronomers and ITV Vera Productions. Radio Broadcasts include Radio 2, Suffolk Radio, BBC Essex, Radio Northampton, Three Counties Radio, Radio Scotland, World Radio (Netherlands) and BBC Citizen Science.
See also
*
*
*
References
External links
Q&A with Tom Boles in ''
Astronomy & Geophysics
''Astronomy & Geophysics'' (''A&G'') is a scientific journal and trade magazine published on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) by Oxford University Press. It publishes a mixture of content of interest to astronomers and geophysicists: ...
'', Volume 54, Issue 6, Pp. 6.9, 6 December 2013
Coddenham Astronomical Observatory Tom Boles' robotic observatory
arXiv.org Search Resultsfor Tom Boles
A giant outburst two years before the core-collapse of a massive star
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boles, Tom
1944 births
20th-century British astronomers
Discoverers of minor planets
Discoverers of supernovae
Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society
Living people
People from Lennoxtown
People from Coddenham
21st-century British astronomers