Tom Boles

For the American politician, see Thomas Boles.

Thomas Boles (born 1944 in Lennoxtown in Scotland) is a Scottish amateur astronomer, discoverer of astronomical objects, author, broadcaster and former communications and computer engineer, who observes from his private "Coddenham Observatory" (234) in Coddenham, Suffolk, United Kingdom.[1][2] He is known for having discovered a record number of supernovae.[3][4] The main-belt asteroid 7648 Tomboles is named in his honor.[1]

He was President of the British Astronomical Association from 2003 to 2005 and Vice President from 2005 to 2007. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and an Examinations Moderator in astronomy with the International Baccalaureate. At the International Astronomical Union, he was a member of Division VIII Galaxies & the Universe and "Commission 28" until 2012 and 2015, respectively, and is a member of IAU's division C and J (Education, Outreach and Heritage; Galaxies and Cosmology).[5]

Boles has co-authored three text books on popular astronomy and has published numerous articles in Astronomy Now, Sky and Telescope; the Austrian The Star Observer, the Journal of the British Astronomical Association, and in the journal The Astronomer.[citation needed] In 2007 he co-authored a research paper about a "giant outburst two years before the core-collapse of a massive star" in the journal Nature.[6]

Boles holds a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the Open University. He held director level appointments over a period of 18 years with four multinational computer companies. He retired in 2001 to dedicate himself to astronomy work and to help with the public Outreach of astronomy.[citation needed]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference MPC-Tomboles was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Coddenham-Observatory-Homepage was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC-hunters was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference IAU-List-of-Supernovae was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference IAU-Members was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nature-05825 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).