Flamsteed Lecture: Great Comets and Great Disappointments

Comets are occasional ghostly visitors to our skies and they hold the key to our understanding of the conditions in the early Solar System. They are fascinating objects 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. We will cover cases where comets have not lived up to their early hype and explain why disappointment is more common these days than it was.

Meet the speaker

Nick has been interested in astronomy for as long as he can remember, certainly since the age of 8. He has been a member of the British Astronomical Association since he was 12 and is now the Director of its Comet Section. Nick is also Assistant Editor of The Astronomer Magazine. He has written many articles for magazines and books, and co-authored "Observing Comets" which was published in 2003 as part of Sir Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy series.

Professionally, Nick is an engineer in the space industry, leading a team responsible for implementing highly sensitive and accurate systems for receiving and processing signals from deep-space spacecraft. He is also a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) ambassador and is keen to encourage more young people to consider science and engineering as a career. All of this keeps him pretty busy but he still finds time to travel extensively to see astronomical phenomena. He is an eclipse chaser, having seen 17 total solar eclipses and has travelled to see the northern lights, comets and other interesting objects under dark skies.

Main image: Comet 12P-Pons-Brooks Taking a Final Bow © Dan Bartlett - ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2025 Planets, Comets & Asteroids.jpg