Paul G. Comba

+ Minor planets discovered: 690

He was born in the French protectorate of Tunisia to Italian Tunisian parents in 1926, and moved to Italy at a young age. Admitted to university studies at the age of 17, He attended the University of Turin (1943–46). In 1946 he moved to the United States to attend Bluffton College, from which he graduated in 1947. He then attended Caltech, and completed his Ph.D. work in mathematics in 1951 (the degree was conferred at commencement in 1952). In 1951 he moved to Honolulu where he taught at the University of Hawaiʻi until 1960.

He then joined IBM as a software developer, and later as a member of the IBM Cambridge Scientific Center. There he worked in Cryptography, and also developed a multiplication algorithm for large numbers, which reduces the multiplication time to as little as 3% of the conventional algorithm.

In 2003 he won the Leslie C. Peltier Award for his contribution to astronomy.

He is the author of the Astronomical League's Asteroid Club Observing Guide, and was an active member of the Prescott Astronomy Club.

Prescott Observatory

After retirement in 1991, Comba moved to Prescott, Arizona, where he built the Prescott Observatory (obs. code: 684) There he specialized in discovering asteroids and has been recognized for the discovery of 644 numbered objects as of September 2013.

Refurbished in 2011, the observatory houses a PlaneWave CDK 24 inch telescope with two Takahashi wide field refractors in the dome. There is a dedicated solar observatory that is equipped with a Lunt 152 solar telescope. The observatory also has a nano lab for cosmology research that is currently equipped with a JEOL 5800LV SEM (scanning electron microscope). Prescott Observatory is an active contributor for the webcast organization SLOOH which is the premiere webcast organization for live celestial events. The observatory is now owned and operated by Matt Francis.

List of discovered minor planets

7684 Marioferrero 3 March 1997 8223 Bradshaw 6 August 1996 8224 Fultonwright 6 August 1996 8407 Houlahan 25 July 1995 8420 Angrogna 17 November 1996 8580 Pinsky 14 December 1996 8583 Froberger 8 January 1997 8734 Warner 1 January 1997 8945 Cavaradossi 1 February 1997 9238 Yavapai 28 April 1997 9445 Charpentier 8 May 1997 9662 Frankhubbard 12 April 1996 9669 Symmetria 8 July 1997 9902 Kirkpatrick 3 July 1997 9903 Leonhardt 4 July 1997 9987 Peano 29 July 1997 9988 Erictemplebell 9 September 1997 10181 Davidacomba 26 March 1996 10204 Turing 1 August 1997 10382 Hadamard 15 September 1996 10588 Adamcrandall 18 July 1996 10598 Markrees 13 October 1996 10607 Amandahatton 13 November 1996 10914 Tucker 31 December 1997 11156 Al-Khwarismi 31 December 1997 11341 Babbage 3 December 1996 11421 Cardano 10 June 1999 11665 Dirichlet 14 April 1997 11709 Eudoxos 27 April 1998 12007 Fermat 11 October 1996 12016 Green 1 December 1996 12022 Hilbert 15 December 1996 12032 Ivory 31 January 1997 12040 Jacobi 8 March 1997 12045 Klein 30 March 1997 12473 Levi-Civita 10 February 1997 12493 Minkowski 4 August 1997 12513 Niven 27 April 1998 12576 Oresme 5 September 1999 12874 Poisson 19 August 1998 13192 Quine 31 January 1997 13642 Ricci 19 April 1996 13658 Sylvester 18 March 1997 13672 Tarski 30 May 1997 13673 Urysohn 1 June 1997 14072 Volterra 21 May 1996 14100 Weierstrass 8 September 1997 14526 Xenocrates 6 May 1997 14960 Yule 21 May 1996 14990 Zermelo 31 October 1997

14995 Archytas 5 November 1997 15378 Artin 7 August 1997 15396 Howardmoore 24 October 1997 15620 Beltrami 29 April 2000 15896 Birkhoff 13 June 1997 15938 Bohnenblust 27 December 1997 16065 Borel 11 September 1999 16246 Cantor 27 April 2000 16249 Cauchy 29 April 2000 16755 Cayley 9 September 1996 16765 Agnesi 16 October 1996 16810 Pavelaleksandrov 25 October 1997 16856 Banach 28 December 1997 16953 Besicovitch 27 May 1998 17076 Betti 18 April 1999 17285 Bezout 3 July 2000 17637 Blaschke 11 August 1996 17653 Bochner 10 November 1996 17696 Bombelli 8 March 1997 17703 Bombieri 9 September 1997 17734 Boole 22 January 1998 17891 Buraliforti 6 March 1999 17917 Cartan 15 April 1999 18059 Cavalieri 15 December 1999 18498 Cesaro 22 June 1996 18510 Chasles 16 September 1996 18548 Christoffel 10 January 1997 18555 Courant 4 February 1997 18560 Coxeter 7 March 1997 18734 Darboux 20 June 1998 19293 Dedekind 18 July 1996 19349 Denjoy 13 February 1997 19462 Ulissedini 27 April 1998 19570 Jessedouglas 13 June 1999 19617 Duhamel 8 August 1999 20135 Juels 7 May 1996 20136 Eisenhart 8 July 1996 20155 Utewindolf 13 October 1996 20156 Herbwindolf 13 October 1996 20174 Eisenstein 13 December 1996 20197 Enriques 14 February 1997 20394 Fatou 28 June 1998 21276 Feller 8 October 1996 21331 Lodovicoferrari 17 January 1997 21451 Fisher 28 April 1998 21537 Fréchet 15 August 1998 21659 Fredholm 13 August 1999 21665 Frege 5 September 1999 22474 Frobenius 8 March 1997 22495 Fubini 6 May 1997 22497 Immanuelfuchs 30 May 1997 22611 Galerkin 17 May 1998 23625 Gelfond 19 November 1996 23699 Paulgordan 8 July 1997 23776 Gosset 17 August 1998 23777 Goursat 23 August 1998 23889 Hermanngrassmann 26 September 1998 24907 Alfredhaar 4 February 1997 24935 Godfreyhardy 28 April 1997 24944 Harish-Chandra 11 June 1997 24947 Hausdorff 7 July 1997 24998 Hermite 28 July 1998 25000 Astrometria 28 July 1998 25029 Ludwighesse 26 August 1998 25082 Williamhodge 15 September 1998 25142 Hopf 26 September 1998 25237 Hurwitz 20 October 1998 25593 Camillejordan 28 December 1999 25604 Karlin 4 January 2000 25624 Kronecker 6 January 2000 25628 Kummer 7 January 2000 26205 Kuratowski 11 June 1997 26276 Natrees 20 September 1998 26277 Ianrees 20 September 1998 26357 Laguerre 27 December 1998 26908 Lebesgue 11 April 1996 26909 Lefschetz 24 April 1996 26950 Legendre 11 May 1997 26955 Lie 30 June 1997 26960 Liouville 8 July 1997 26993 Littlewood 3 December 1997 27056 Ginoloria 26 September 1998 27114 Lukasiewicz 19 November 1998 27500 Mandelbrot 12 April 2000 27514 Markov 26 April 2000 27915 Nancywright 30 October 1996 27922 Mascheroni 8 December 1996 27947 Emilemathieu 9 July 1997 27975 Mazurkiewicz 23 October 1997 27988 Menabrea 7 November 1997 28394 Mittag-Leffler 13 September 1999 28516 Möbius 27 February 2000 28729 Moivre 11 April 2000 28766 Monge 29 April 2000 29435 Mordell 8 May 1997 29447 Jerzyneyman 12 August 1997 29448 Pappos 23 August 1997 29458 Pearson 30 September 1997 29463 Benjaminpeirce 2 October 1997 29491 Pfaff 23 November 1997 29613 Charlespicard 16 September 1998 29643 Plücker 15 November 1998 29646 Polya 16 November 1998 29647 Poncelet 17 November 1998 29700 Salmon 19 December 1998 29837 Savage 21 March 1999 29910 Segre 14 May 1999 30305 Severi 1 May 2000 30306 Frigyesriesz 2 May 2000 30307 Marcelriesz 2 May 2000 30417 Staudt 1 June 2000 30418 Jakobsteiner 1 June 2000 30443 Stieltjes 3 July 2000 30445 Stirling 5 July 2000 30566 Stokes 29 July 2001 31043 Sturm 11 June 1996 31122 Brooktaylor 21 September 1997 31189 Tricomi 27 December 1997 31665 Veblen 10 May 1999 31823 Viète 4 October 1999 31931 Sipiera 10 April 2000 31956 Wald 13 April 2000 31982 Johnwallis 30 April 2000 32267 Hermannweyl 1 August 2000 33004 Dianesipiera 2 March 1997 33044 Erikdavy 20 October 1997 33113 Julabeth 22 January 1998 26 February 1998 15 March 1999 16 May 1999 1 July 2000 6 July 2000 28 July 2000 5 August 2000 26 August 2000 16 September 1996 1 November 1997 29 January 1998 2 March 1998 20 May 1999 5 May 2000 5 August 2000 15 September 1996 7 November 1997 23 March 1998 24 March 1998 17 August 1998 2 October 1999 4 October 1999 12 October 1999 4 January 2000 15 September 1996 9 October 1996 2 November 1996 19 January 1998 15 July 1998 12 February 1999 18 June 1999 12 September 1999 2 October 1999 2 October 1999 25 December 1999 1 July 2000 3 July 2000 31 January 1997 23 May 1998 19 August 1998 4 January 2000 3 February 2001 23 September 1997 28 April 1998 28 May 1998 26 August 1998 4 October 1999 8 October 1999 12 October 1999 13 October 1999 4 December 1999 4 January 2000 6 February 2000 8 February 2000 5 July 2000 5 September 1997 25 July 1998 15 August 1998 17 August 1998 12 September 1998 15 October 1999 28 December 1999 12 May 1996 13 September 1996 24 July 1998 25 July 1998 17 August 1998 21 November 1998 6 April 1999 4 October 1999 49777 Cappi 2 December 1999 6 January 2000 27 January 2000 2 February 2000 10 March 2000 4 April 2000 1 November 1996 3 December 1996 28 April 1997 23 October 1997 27 October 1997 26 July 1998 20 February 1999 14 May 1999 7 February 2000 10 March 2000 10 March 2000 26 March 2000 28 April 2000 28 April 2000 28 April 2000 9 May 2000 27 May 2000 1 June 2000 4 September 2000 23 September 2000 29 July 2001 8 September 2001 18 November 1997 28 February 1998 14 December 1998 22 February 1999 17 April 1999 9 May 2000 25 May 2000 1 June 2000 3 October 2000 21 May 1996 22 June 1996 9 June 1997 16 November 1998 24 December 1998 27 December 1998 12 March 1999 15 March 1999 7 June 1999 13 September 1999 4 April 2000 3 June 2000 6 June 2000 6 June 2000 2 July 2000 5 July 2000 21 July 2000 26 July 2000 20 August 2000 5 September 2000 22 September 2000 1 December 1996 8 September 1997 3 August 1999 2 April 2000 5 April 2000 24 September 2000 14 March 2001 15 April 1996 8 October 1996 11 January 1997 11 May 1997 27 October 1997 28 April 1998 21 June 1998 15 August 1998 23 August 1998 19 September 1998 16 October 1998 19 December 1998 26 December 1998 18 September 1999 4 October 1999 15 October 1999 31 December 1999 4 January 2000 24 February 2001 23 April 2001 1 January 1997 30 June 1997 22 March 1998 28 May 1998 22 June 1998 21 July 1999 3 September 1999 1 December 1999 7 December 1999 15 December 1999 4 January 2000 10 January 2000 12 January 2000 1 February 2000 10 March 2000 29 April 2000 15 March 2001 19 March 2001 16 September 2001 30 October 1996 4 February 1997 8 May 1997 23 October 1997 17 August 1998 24 December 1998 27 December 1998 31 December 1999 12 January 2000 15 January 2000 1 February 2000 2 February 2000 2 February 2000 8 February 2000 3 March 2000 3 March 2000 11 March 2000 2 April 2000 4 April 2000 2 May 2000 4 May 2000 23 May 2000 9 June 2000 10 January 1997 31 January 1997 23 September 1997 10 March 1999 4 October 1999 6 February 2000 2 March 2000 2 April 2000 13 April 2000 24 May 2000 26 May 2000 25 June 2000 1 July 2000 16 August 2001 13 September 2001 7 May 1996 9 September 1996 18 December 1996 24 October 1997 15 August 1998 6 June 1999 4 September 1999 4 September 1999 2 October 1999 4 October 1999 9 October 1999 31 October 1999 29 February 2000 25 March 2000 28 April 2000 29 April 2000 4 July 2000 21 August 2000 22 September 2000 5 October 2000 17 March 2001 18 September 1996 8 January 1997 22 March 1998 28 May 1998 9 April 1999 16 April 1999 8 October 1999 31 October 1999 3 December 1999 15 December 1999 4 April 2000 31 May 2000 5 August 2000 5 August 2000 5 September 2000 18 November 2000 16 February 2001 99201 Sattler 25 April 2001 9 September 1996 7 October 1996 7 November 1996 1 December 1996 9 April 1997 29 October 1997 19 September 1998 24 September 1998 17 October 1998 18 October 1998 26 December 1998 12 February 1999 12 February 1999 6 March 1999 10 March 1999 9 August 1999 11 August 1999 12 August 1999 13 October 1999 11 December 1999 11 January 2000 3 February 2000 3 February 2000 6 February 2000 10 March 2000 7 April 2000 11 April 2000 9 May 2000 23 May 2000 27 May 2000 5 August 2000 31 August 2000 22 September 2000 28 November 2000 12 February 2001 16 February 2001 9 September 2001 12 September 2001 14 March 2002 9 July 1997 20 September 1998 12 January 2000 4 April 2000 1 November 1996 31 January 1997 8 August 1999 4 October 1999 15 October 1999 9 December 1999 11 December 1999 28 December 1999 30 December 1999 12 January 2000 10 March 2000 10 March 2000 9 April 2000 26 May 2000 27 July 2000 27 July 2000 3 August 2000 26 August 2000 24 July 2001 11 October 1996 20 October 1997 9 March 1999 6 February 2000 8 February 2000 2 March 2000 3 October 2000 19 March 2001 14 March 2002 17 January 1998 13 October 1999 8 February 2000 19 September 2001 18 July 1996 3 December 1996 6 February 1997 28 September 1998 6 March 1999 7 June 1999 10 October 1999 12 October 1999 4 January 2000 6 January 2000 23 September 2000 12 November 1996 5 November 1997 8 September 1999 31 May 2000 1 January 1997 28 December 1999 2 March 2000 26 August 2000 10 September 1997 8 October 1999 15 January 2000 2 February 2000 5 April 2000 3 May 2000 6 April 2000 30 July 2000 22 July 1996 5 October 1996 13 February 1997 15 August 1998 4 October 1999 24 May 2001 26 March 2000 26 August 2000 6 August 1996 24 March 2000 1 June 2000 7 November 1996 8 September 1996 6 October 1996 15 January 2000 30 July 2000 19 February 2001 9 September 1996 24 July 1998 13 December 1998 26 August 2001 8 January 1997 24 September 2000 9 August 1999 19 September 2000 24 September 2000 28 June 2003 11 January 2000 9 March 1999 16 January 2000 2 April 2000 11 April 2000 7 May 2000 31 May 2000 7 June 2000 28 December 1999 21 August 2000 28 January 2000 24 July 2001 26 March 2000 5 August 2000 14 March 2002 14 September 1999 21 August 2000 17 March 2001 3 October 1996 4 October 1999 4 October 1999 14 April 2000 25 July 2000 30 March 2000 18 March 2001 31 January 1997 12 April 2000 28 January 2000 1 February 2000 31 August 2000 12 October 1999 7 November 1996 12 October 1999 10 June 2000 28 July 2000 3 October 1996 26 August 2000 7 August 1996 4 July 2000 1 September 1997 2 March 2000 1 October 2000 5 May 2002 2 February 2000 12 February 2001 17 October 1996 25 May 2000 24 September 2000 12 February 2001 23 September 1996 30 September 1997 12 December 1999 10 January 2000 4 December 2000 15 April 2001 11 December 1999 15 December 1999 22 August 2000 18 April 2001 31 January 1997 31 October 1996 7 May 2000 24 September 2000 24 May 2001 12 June 1996 3 October 1996 27 July 2001 5 May 2002 7 May 2002 1 July 2000 6 March 1997 26 August 2000 24 September 2000 1 February 2001 3 July 2000 7 October 1996 26 March 2000 27 July 2000 21 August 2000 29 July 2000 12 December 1996 12 September 1999 14 March 2001 30 April 2000 30 October 1997 4 December 2000 12 November 1996 6 October 1996 11 November 1996 3 October 1996 18 September 1996 16 September 1999 23 May 2000 17 October 1998 1 June 1997 21 August 2000 2 September 2000 8 October 1996 26 May 2000 3 February 2001 26 August 2001 12 November 1996 4 December 1996 11 October 1999 29 May 2000 16 August 2001 5 October 2000 29 September 2003 2 February 2000 29 May 2000 30 March 2000 26 September 2003 16 September 1999 30 July 2000 15 March 2001 4 January 2001 22 July 2000 18 September 2001 6 January 2000 23 April 2001 9 September 1996 2 February 2001 20 October 1998 25 July 1998 3 September 1999 25 July 1998 5 May 2000 21 September 1999 11 March 2000 28 July 2000 2 September 2000 10 May 2000 30 June 1997 26 September 2003 28 August 2000 6 October 1996 11 December 1999 31 August 2000 1 October 2000 23 March 2001 3 September 1999 9 July 1997 26 August 1998