@richard-miles
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Registered: 10 years, 8 months ago
My first astronomical recollection was in the summer of 1957 having seen the brilliant white band of the Milky Way in non-light-polluted skies on my way home from holiday. Later that year in early November, I saw Sputnik II attached to its upper rocket stage, with the dog Laika on board, pass nearly overhead as seen from Cheshire. Since then I have always been fascinated by Astronomy and it has remained a lifelong passion. My career has been as a research scientist having obtained a doctorate in Physical Chemistry in 1977. I might have become an astronomer had opportunties existed back then. Am now based in Dorset, UK. I operated the Golden Hill Observatory (IAU Code J77) from 2003 to 2022, but have since moved and so observe remotely over the internet. Keen to extract science from my observations and those of others, I became Assistant Director of the Asteroids and Remote Planets Section starting in 1984, and Director in 2005, serving as BAA President from 2005 to 2007. I mainly study asteroids and comets, all examples of small Solar System bodies. I have a special interest in outbursting comets starting with 17P/Holmes in 2007 and 29P/SW1 in 2010. (Last updated: 2023 February 22)
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