Cometography: Volume 6, 1983-1993

Gary Kronk has held a life-long passion for astronomy, and has been researching historical information on comets ever since sighting Comet Kohoutek in 1973/4. His work has been published in numerous magazines, and in two previous books: Comets: A Descriptive Catalog (1984) and Meteor Showers: A Descriptive Catalog (1988). Kronk holds positions in various astronomical societies, including Coordinator of the Comet Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, and Consultant for the American Meteor Society. The International Astronomical Union named minor planet 48300 Kronk in honor of the extensive research Gary Kronk has done in cometography. Maik Meyer has observed comets since 1987. Besides comet observing, he is researching cometary orbits in order to link and identify historic comet apparitions. His speciality area is the history of comet hunting. In 2002, he discovered the Meyer group of sunskirting comets. Meyer was leader of the Comet Section of the German Vereinigung der Sternfreunde and served as assistant editor of the International Comet Quarterly (ICQ). The International Astronomical Union named minor planet 52005 Maik in honor of his research work in comets. David Seargent studied and tutored philosophy at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, and has written books and articles covering a variety of subjects. He has been an amateur astronomer since his early teens, with comets being his principal interest. Seargent directed the Australian Comet Section from early 1980s until early 2000s and acted as visual co-ordinator for Australia of International Halley Watch 1985/6. He is the discoverer of C/1978 T1 (Seargent).

• Introduction; Acknowledgements; Catalog of comets; Appendix 1. Uncertain objects; Appendix 2. Periodical abbreviations; Index.

'For anyone interested in a specific cometary appearance, from the dawn of time up to AD 1993, the Cometography series of books has become a reliable and essential 'first stop' in the hunt for details. There is a minimum of a page of text on each comet. Orbital parameters are recorded as well as the heliocentric and geocentric distances and solar elongations of the first and last sightings. The constellations the comet passes through are also listed as is the comet's absolute magnitude. What I appreciated most were the detailed blow-by-blow observations … [The author's] love of comets leaps from every page of this series of books and his dedication, thoroughness, accuracy, hard work, and clarity of prose is greatly appreciated.' David W. Hughes, The Observatory