astronomy

John Broughton

John Broughton is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand John Broughton rather than just read about it. In short: John Broughton (born 1952) is an Australian amateur astronomer and artist. He is among the most prolific discoverers of minor planets worldwide, credited by the Minor Planet Center with more than 1,000 discoveries made between 1997 and 2008.

Key takeaways

John Broughton belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect John Broughton to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John Broughton from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John Broughton (born 1952) is an Australian amateur astronomer and artist. He is among the most prolific discoverers of minor planets worldwide, credited by the Minor Planet Center with more than 1,000 discoveries made between 1997 and 2008. His observations are done at Reedy Creek Observatory (428) in Queensland, Australia. In 2002, Broughton was one of five astronomers to be awarded a "Gene Shoemaker NEO Grant" by the Planetary Society to support his work on near-Earth asteroids. The money enabled the purchase of a CCD camera for use initially on a 10" SCT and later on a 20" f/2.7 automated telescope he designed and constructed, with first light occurring 10 April 2004. Asteroid 24105 Broughton was named in his honour in 2005, and he later won the 2008 Page Medal.

Discoveries and research

Broughton is the discoverer of four near-Earth objects, two of which are potentially hazardous asteroids (PHA). Discovered 11 April 2004 on the first full night of operations with the 20" telescope, Apollo asteroid (186844) 2004 GA1 is one of only 157 known kilometer-size PHAs and the largest such discovery made by a non-professional astronomer. The short-period comet 513P/Broughton was discovered in October 2005, followed nine months later by the hyperbolic comet C/2006 OF2 (Broughton) at a distant 7.7 AU from the sun and more than two years from reaching its perihelion. In 2003, Broughton began observing asteroid occultations by taking trailed CCD exposures and measuring the resulting dips in brightness. Subsequently, he developed methods and applications to facilitate the observation, timing and analysis. By 2010, he had switched to using sensitive video cameras, and began designing telescopes better suited to multi-station field work than what is commercially available, culminating in collapsible alt-alt telescopes of moderate size, compact enough to take anywhere in the world in standard airline baggage. In 2011, he formulated a method to derive asteroid dimensions by integrating the results of separate occultations. The tables are periodically updated and now include over 500 asteroids.

List of discovered minor planets

See also List of minor planet discoverers § J. Broughton

References

External links Mention of the Shoemaker Grant, and Broughton's discovery of 2004 GA1 March 2007 report of work done through the end of 2006, including discovery of C/2006 OF2 (Broughton) Drift-Scan Timing of Asteroid Occultations Asteroid Dimensions From Occultations

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Broughton

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Broughton claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John Broughton before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John Broughton ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John Broughton

In research: John Broughton appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John Broughton in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John Broughton is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1952 births, 20th-century Australian astronomers, 21st-century Australian astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Broughton outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study John Broughton in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John Broughton means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain John Broughton out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is John Broughton in simple terms?

Why does John Broughton matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John Broughton?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John Broughton.