Robert H. McNaught
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Robert H. McNaught (born in Scotland in 1956) is a Scottish-Australian astronomer at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Australian National University. He has collaborated with David Asher of the Armagh Observatory.
He is a prolific discoverer of asteroids, and participates in the Siding Spring Survey. He is also a co-discoverer of periodic comet 130P/McNaught-Hughes and, using the Uppsala Schmidt telescope, discovered comet C/2006 P1 on August 7, 2006, which became the brightest comet in several decades [1]. It made perihelion on 12 January 2007, and has become easily visible to the naked eye for observers in the Southern Hemisphere.
There are eleven "Comets McNaught", besides the Great Comet of 2007. They are:
- C/1987 U3 (a.k.a. 1987 XXXII, 1987b1)
- C/2005 E2
- C/2005 L2
- C/2005 L3
- C/2005 S4
- C/2006 B1
- C/2006 E1
- C/2006 K1
- C/2006 K3
- C/2006 L2
- C/2006 Q1
McNaught has also discovered eleven periodic comets:
- Comet McNaught 1 (P/2004 K2)
- Comet McNaught 2 (P/2004 R1)
- Comet McNaught 3 (P/2005 J1)
- Comet McNaught 4 (P/2005 K3)
- Comet McNaught 5 (P/2005 L1)
- Comet McNaught 6 (P/2005 Y2)
- Comet McNaught 7 (P/2006 G1)
- Comet McNaught 8 (P/2006 H1)
- Comet McNaught 9 (P/2006 K2)
- Comet McNaught 10 (P/2007 H1)
- Comet McNaught 11 (191P/McNaught)
Finally, he is co-discoverer of the following other comets:
- P/McNaught-Hartley (a.k.a. P/1994 N2, 1994 XXXI, 1994n)
- Comet McNaught-Hartley (a.k.a. C/1999 T1)
- Comets McNaught-Hughes:
- C/1990 M1 (a.k.a. 1991 III, 1990g)
- 130P/McNaught-Hughes (a.k.a. 130P/1991 S1, 1991 IX, 1991y, 130P/1997 H1)
- Comets McNaught-Russell:
- Comet McNaught-Tritton (a.k.a. C/1978 G2, 1978 XXVII)
- Comet McNaught-Watson (a.k.a. C/1999 S2)
The asteroid 3173 McNaught was named in his honour.
- "Earth-threatening space rocks hunted by ANU", Media releases, Australian National University, 2004-04-06. Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
- McNaught, Robert (2007). C/2006 P1 (McNaught's own page). Siding Springs Observatory. Australian National University. Retrieved on 2007-01-21.