彗星大牛布雷德菲尔德6月月9日病逝，享年86岁
William A. Bradfield, 1928-2014.There's many sad faces in the astronomical community at the moment due to the passing away of Bill Bradfield after a long battle with illness on 9th June.
Bill Bradfield is history's most prolific visual comet hunter, credited with the discovery of 18 comets visually between 1972 and 2004- six more than any other amateur astronomer alive. He was a rarity and in a class of his own using nothing but his eyes and a homemade telescope.
Between 1995 and his last comet discovery in 2004 (comet 2004 F4 Bradfield) there was a nine year spell involving 900 hours of searching. Not surprising, as by this stage, computerised searches using digital equipment were making it difficult for people like Bradfield to find their own comets. In fact, for that 16 month period during January 2003 and May 2004, he was only one of two people in the world to have outsmarted those robots.
That final comet discovery in 2004 earned him the prestigious Edgar Wilson award for amateur comet discovery. Not forgetting he was also made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 and had an asteroid officially named after him during his successful amateur career.
Finally, I'd like to add this excerpt from:
http://auklanddrive.org/Astronomy/ASV/Solar%20System/A%20Talk%20by%20Bill%20Bradfield.html
In reply to a question from the audience whether he usually follows up on composition and orbit of his “dirty snowball” discoveries, he confesses “I prefer to spend my time looking for another one. There are lots of people around that like to trace the development of these ‘ghosts of the Solar System’, work out their orbits and note whether they're getting bigger or are developing a tail". The acclaim of the scientific world for his uncanny knack for visually discovering comets he modestly puts down to "having a good eye. But”, he admits, “I was really excited with this last one for, after going for 9 years without a discovery it proved I still do have it”. The figures speak for themselves: eighteen comets over a 32-year time span comes out to an average of one new discovery about every 21 months.
And finally on an end note, if you'd like some tips on comet hunting, take a look at Bill's article for the Astronomical Society of South Australia:
https://www.assa.org.au/resources/comets-meteors-satellites/comet-hunting/
An (oh!) a very cool pic of his last comet, C2004 F4 Bradfield taken in April 2004 by Michael Jäger and Gerald Rhemann can be seen here:http://cometography.com/lcomets/2004f4.html
R.I.P Bill Bradfield.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/11/1084041389086.html?from=storylhs
(via and thanks to Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium)
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/2004-comet-award-winners/
他一生一共發現了18顆彗星，全部係目視發現。（以上资料由许文韬提供）
C/2004 F4 (Bradfield)
一个伟大的彗星猎手陨落了。他将永远活在我们心中。 缅怀。今天难出寻彗大师了 令人钦佩的彗星猎手！布雷德菲尔德老人一路走好。 现在目视发现彗星几率是越来越小了。 一路走好~ 默哀。。 愿BRADFIELD的灵魂永远闪耀在璀璨的星河。。。。。。一路走好。。。。。。 一个时代过去了 传统目视寻彗日渐衰落，但武装起来的业余爱好者并没有被大巡天系统击垮，并且有强大的趋势： 业余发现：
2003年-2014年
2003：1
2004:3
2005:2
2006:2
2007:3
2008:5
2009：5
2010:6
2011：5
2012：8
2013：14
2014：2.。。 布雷德菲尔德一路走好！
默哀一下，一个时代的代表。
目视派寻彗又少了一人。
不过他的名字永远闪耀星空。 R.I.P 向大师致个敬………… 向天文前辈致敬！ 鞠躬 他的名字将闪耀星空 本帖最后由 皮侠客 于 2014-6-21 16:49 编辑
很了不起的传奇人物，我刚入天文圈就知道他的故事，一晃也将近30年了。深深的鞠一躬。。。。。。
令人钦佩的彗星猎手！ 一位老前辈走了，会有更多的同好加入 向超级大牛致敬
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