Comet and Asteroid Hunting

Comet McNaught at sunset in 2007

Are you bored with astronomy? Have you seen the planets a million times over or had enough of looking at the same old stars? Well sit up, pay attention and I will tell you why there's no need to be bored any longer. Whether it is spotting planets, hunting down glittering stars or finding elusive galaxies that floats your boat, there is an celestial project for everyone.

There are a handful of automated asteroid and comet sky survey projects such as LINEAR or NEAT that regularly spy new objects, but the field is wide open for amateur astronomers around the globe to pick out new visitors to the inner solar system. The sky is a big place and the automated systems are not capable of monitoring it all -- amateur astronomers play a key role in seeking out new asteroids and comets. The trick is to become familiar with a patch of sky and monitor it as much as possible. This can be visually or with imaging equipment.(Jul 29, 2013 03:48 PM ET // by Mark Thompson)