Donald Machholz

Donald Edward Machholz (October 7, 1952 – August 9, 2022) was an American astronomer. He was a well known visual comet discoverer. It was said he helped discover 12 comets. Machholz spent more than 9,000 hours comet-hunting in a career, which lasted over 50 years. Machholz was one of the inventors of the Messier Marathon. 
Machholz died on August 9, 2022 at his ranch in Mohave County, Arizona at the age of 69.