Vale Bill Bradfield

[Astroman]

Hi all,

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of the world renowned Australian comet hunter Bill Bradfield (1928-2014). Bill Bradfield was the 20th Century's foremost visual comet hunter, discovering 18-comets between 1972 and 2004. Bill died peacefully after a long illness on the 9th of June.

[Rob_K]

Sad news Andrew, a legend of Australian (and world!) amateur astronomy. Such are the advances in amateur astronomy that you can say with absolute certainty that there'll never ever be another like him. RIP.

[Kunama]

Sad news indeed, I was just last week reading of him. A clever man, previously a research scientist working on rocket propulsion.

[Starless]

Sad news indeed!!!:(
He was the most famous Aussie amateur, and with good reason.

[Brettstar6754]

Met Bill at the SPSP that coincided with Comet Hale Bopp.
Had a pair of new 20 x 80 binocs mounted and pointed at the bright short fan like comet on the Western Horizon.

His words...
Wow, Ive never seen a comet like that.

[cometcatcher]

Oh no, that is sad news. For me, he will be forever remembered for his comets.

[gary]

Sad to hear Bill has passed on. An extraordinary amateur astronomer.

http://auklanddrive.org/Astronomy/ASV/Solar%20System/A%20Talk%20by%20Bill%20Bradfield.ht ml

[astroron]

It is sad to hear of Bills passing, I had some correspondence with him in the early 1990's and he was also a guest of the Queensland Astrofest some time back.
A true gentleman and a great observer.
RIP Bill

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Very sad news to hear of the death of Bill Bradfield.

He mentored me in comet hunting.
I had the privilege of visiting him several times at his home, and he showed me the amazing home made equipment that he used for his discoveries.

we will miss him.

Justin.

[Ric]

Very sad to hear of his passing.

A wonderful man.

RIP Bill

[AstralTraveller]

I'm very sad to hear of Bill's passing. He was truly a legend of amateur astronomy. Skill and dedication like his are rare qualities.

[PeterM]

Rest In Peace.

[Paul Haese]

A sad loss to South Australia, astronomy and those who knew him.

I met Bill once quite a few years ago and found his interest in comet discovery very engaging.

In 2011 I won the award named after Bill and it was a real honour to receive the award. The Astronomical Society of South Australia runs the award and I am sure this year will be particularly special for the award recipient.

You will be missed Bill.

[stephenb]

Sad news. I met Bill once only on 20th October 1989 where he spoke at the ASV's meeting in Melbourne. His talk was very engaging I do recall that! He signed my copy of Leslie Peltier's Starlight Nights.

[CometGuy]

I feel very saddened by this (it's just sinking in). There was time when it almost seemed Bill had ownership of every bright comet found and the announcement of a new Bradfield comet brought great excitement! Around 1982 I had the opportunity to meet the man in person, and to be honest I was in quiet awe and it wasn't until recent years I attempted to contact him. Sadly, when I finally did contact him again last year his memory had faded and he could not recall his comet hunting times. However, the memories of his achievement's will continue to live on...RIP Bill.

Terry

[alan meehan]

Sad news ,I met him myself at SPSP his visual comet hunting was just was just inspirational, RIP Bill


ALAN

[Retrograde]

Very sad to hear about this - Bill was one of the greats.

[glenc]

Bill was the president of the Astronomical Society of South Australia in the late 1970s when I lived in Adelaide.
He often announced a new comet at the start of a meeting, exciting times.

Bill Bradfield, Comet Hunter Extraordinaire (1927-2014)
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/bill-bradfield-comet-hunter-extraordinaire-1927-2014/

[MrAstro]

I only just found out about Bill Bradfield passing away. Very saddened to hear this news.

RIP Mr Bradfield.

[bkm2304]

Vale, Bill Bradfield. Like most of the respondents here, I was and still am, in awe of Bill's patient, persistent searching of the sky.

Richard

[Ian Cooper]

Just adding my condolences to Bill's family & friends. I had the great pleasure of meeting Bill on several occasions back in the late 70's and early 80's whenever Bill would come home to catch up with his elderly mother in his home town of Shannon on the south western coast of the North Island, N.Z. Bill moved to Australia at the ripe old age of 27!

In the photo attached Bill was visiting our little roll-off roof we operated back in April 1981. I'm on the left, Bill centre, and my good mate Noel Munford on the right. I remember a very droll sense of humour and an amazing amount of knowledge regarding anything to do with observing.

All who knew him will miss him for sure. Those dirty snowballs are freer to roam the firmaments now that the best hunter has passed on.

Cheers, Coops.

[Suzy]

Ian, that is a such a great picture of the three of you and oh boy, what a treasure to hold on to. Thank you for posting this. :)

[Ian Cooper]

It sure is Suzy. I'm amazed at how much of that visit from a third of a century ago I still remember. Just shows what sort of an impression Bill made. He had a very easy going style about him.

His comet hunting telescope was what we typically call No. 8 fencing wire technology. Made out of whatever was at hand and only what was required. After that it was all down to the observer and his knowledge of the sky.

Bill has said it elsewhere but I clearly remember the gleam in his eye when he described his observing routine. He would start by covering the part of the sky also available to the Japanese comet hunters who were also very prolific through the whole time that Bill was active. Having covered that part of the sky he would settle in to the southern sky in the knowledge that there were very few southern comet hunters about (my good mate Rod Austin was one of them).

When Bill found a comet we were always excited to observe it. His last comet was a really good one but best seen in the N.H. I was glad that he got the Edgar Wilson award for that one as this was when the robots were really starting to sweep them up.

[WhiteStarLine]

Saddened to hear of the news of the death of Bill Bradfield. He originally worked with my father at Defence Research Centre Salisbury and the two were members of the 1957 Moonwatch team that spotted, tracked and captured video of Sputnik from the Physics building of the University of Adelaide.

The photo shows the two men at a Defence Science Technology Organisation (DSTO) reunion many years later. Two of the ex-WW2 tank scopes they used to track Sputnik have survived.