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]
He holds the record of spotting the most supernovae by one person: 149 supernovae.[4] As of 2003, Boles and Mark Armstrong are the "most successful exploding star hunters in history."[3] He broke the record after discovering his 124th supernova '2009ij', followed by supernova number 125 '2009io' a few nights later. The previous record holder was Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky, who discovered 123 supernovae before his death in 1974. The record was unbroken for 36 years.[8]
Boles has also discovered a nova in the Andromeda Galaxy and 84417 Ritabo, an asteroid in the middle region of the main-belt, which he named after his wife Rita Boles.[9]
Boles has co-authored three text books on popular astronomy:
Boles's Television broadcasts include: Co-presenting BBC Tomorrow's World and guest appearances on several BBC programmes such as The Sky at Night, Final Frontiers, All Night Star Party (from Jodrell Bank); BBC Astronomers and ITV Vera Productions. Radio Broadcasts include Radio 2, Suffolk Radio, BBC Essex, Radio Northampton, Three Counties Radio, Radio Scotland, World Radio (Netherlands) and BBC Citizen Science.[citation needed]
"Homepage". Coddenham Astronomical Observatory. Retrieved 12 October 2016. "List of Supernovae". IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. IAU – International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 12 October 2016. Zampieri, L.; Xu, D.; Turatto, M.; Stanishev, V.; Smoker, J. V.; Nielsen, T. B.; Nakano, S.; Meng, X.; Mazzali, P. A.; Lorenzi, V.; Iijima, T.; Keenan, F. P.; Harutyunyan, A.; Elias-Rosa, N.; Dennefeld, M.; Deng, J.; Cao, C.; Bufano, F.; Botticella, M. T.; Bonnet-Bidaud, J.-M; Boles, T.; Cappellaro, E.; Benetti, S.; Augusteijn, T.; Agnoletto, I.; Patat, F.; Valenti, S.; Navasardyan, H.; Yamaoka, H.; et al. (14 June 2007). "A giant outburst two years before the core-collapse of a massive star". Nature. 447 (7146): 829–832. arXiv:astro-ph/0703663v2. Bibcode:2007Natur.447..829P. doi:10.1038/nature05825. PMID 17568740. S2CID 4409319.