Comets are occasional ghostly visitors to our skies yet hold the key to understanding conditions in the early Solar System. They can be fascinating to observe but their behaviour is very difficult to predict. The very best comets can be spectacular. This talk will cover what makes a comet "great" and give some examples through history. It will also examine comets which failed to live up to early expectations and explain why disappointment is more common these days than once it was.

Nick has been interested in astronomy for as long as he can remember and joined the British Astronomical Association (BAA) at age 12. He is Director of the Comet Section of the BAA and an assistant editor of The Astronomer magazine. He has written many articles for magazines and books and co-authored Observing Comets, published in 2003 as part of Sir Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy series.

Professionally, he is an engineer in the space industry leading a team responsible for implementing highly sensitive and accurate systems for receiving and processing spacecraft signals from deep-space.
 

Nik will explain how to take great images of deep sky objects. He will cover both broadband and narrowband imaging (the former used primarily for galaxies and the latter for emission nebulae) and will show numerous wonderful images including very deep images taken with a robotic system in Spain.

Originally a train driver on the London underground, Nik became interested in astronomical imaging in 1991. His is nowadays one of the country’s most successful and well-known astrophotographers, world-renowned for his deep sky images and contributions to education and public outreach. He does much imaging from his home in Essex, and also collaborates with professional astronomers using large telescopes at La Palma in the Canary Islands and Mauna Kea in Hawaii. He regularly contributes editorials and articles to the astronomy press and has written books on astrophotography including Shooting Stars, Infinity Rising and useful guides on image processing.

His imaging abilities won him the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 2004.
 

John is an applied physicist by profession and has been actively involved in science for over 30 years, with astronomy, astrophysics and space technology his main interests. He is currently Principle Lecturer at the South Downs Planetarium in Chichester and has been a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society since 1976. A former president of the British Astronomical Association, John is presently Director of the Association's Meteor Section and its public relations officer.

A full member of the International Astronomical Union, John lectures extensively in the UK and overseas on a wide range of scientific topics and is a frequent broadcaster on radio and television, where he has appeared many times with Sir Patrick Moore.
 

Allan is a member of the Faculty of History at Wadham College, University of Oxford, where his research interests are astronomy and scientific biography. He also teaches for the "study abroad" programme of Eurospring for Minnesota State University and Bemidji State University in the USA.

Allan is a prolific writer, with many books published, and an accomplished lecturer and public speaker. In 1994, he delivered the Royal Society History of Science Wilkins Lecture on the subject of Edmund Halley. He has also presented television programmes and appeared in 2006 on University Challenge – The Professionals as part of the Royal Astronomical Society team.

Allan is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a founder member and president of the Society for the History of Astronomy. He is the honorary president of OASI.
 

Nick has been a keen amateur astronomer for many decades. Although his main interest is the deep sky, he is also an enthusiastic chaser of eclipses, imager of Mars and observer of active galactic nuclei. He has led many eclipse trips as resident expert. He joined the British Astronomical Association (BAA) in 1992 rising to be President and is currently a trustee. He was Director of the BAA Deep Sky section from 1992 to 2003.

Professionally, Nick is a retired GP.