1. Thomas Joel Bopp was an American amateur astronomer.
13 Facts About Thomas Bopp
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Thomas Bopp joined the United States Air Force and served in the Philippines where several times he observed the green flash, an optical phenomenon which occurs just before sunset above the setting sun.
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Thomas Bopp then attended Youngstown State University and studied business administration.
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In 1980 Thomas Bopp moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to work in the parts department of a construction company and continued to attend astronomy clubs in the local area.
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Thomas Bopp joined the North Phoenix Alternative Astronomical Society, an unofficial group of enthusiasts founded by Kevin Gill who met up to observe in the Arizona desert.
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At home again, Thomas Bopp finally reported the sighting by telegram to the IAU.
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Thomas Bopp had taken the institute's name literally and sent a telegram via Western Union.
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On March 21,1997, Hale and Thomas Bopp were named ABC Person of the Week in the Friday night broadcast.
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Thomas Bopp enjoyed presenting in schools, science centers and museums, enthusing children with astronomy, and met up with his co-discoverer Hale in Queensland while taking a group of school children to see the 2012 eclipse in Australia.
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At White Sands Missile Range in 1997 Thomas Bopp was invited to be an observer when an ultraviolet spectrograph was launched by Black Brant rocket to observe the comet and look for argon and neon.
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Thomas Bopp was awarded an honorary doctor of Science degree from Youngstown State University in 1998.
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In 1997, when Thomas Bopp pointed out the comet would soon disappear from view and would not be visible for another 2380 years, he said he would always continue looking up at the stars.
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Thomas Bopp died of liver failure on January 5,2018, at the age of 68.