George Alcock

MBE FRAS FRGS FRMetS

Born|

George Eric Deacon Alcock

(1912-08-28)28 August 1912

Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England

Died| 15 December 2000(2000-12-15) (aged 88)

Farcet, Cambridgeshire, England

Known for| Discovery of comets and novae
Spouse(s)|

Mary Green
(m. 1941; died 1991)

George Eric Deacon Alcock, MBE FRAS FRGS FRMetS (28 August 1912[1] – 15 December 2000) was an English amateur astronomer. He was one of the most successful visual discoverers of novae and comets.

Born in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, the son of a railway worker, George’s interest in astronomy was sparked by his first encounter with the solar eclipse of 8 April 1921.[2] His interest evolved into the observation of meteors and meteor showers, resulting to him joining the Meteor Section of the British Astronomical Association on 27 March 1935, while training to be a teacher.[3] He balanced his pursuit of astronomy with his full-time teaching career, moving between temporary posts before obtaining a permanent position in 1937. While serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, he saw action in North Africa and Italy, and was court-martialed three times.[4] In 1953, he started his search for comets and in 1955 for novae. His technique involved memorization of the patterns of thousands of stars, so that he would visually recognize any intruder.

In 1959, he discovered comet C/1959 Q1 — the first comet discovered in Britain since 1894. After five days, he discovered another, named C/1959 Q2. He discovered two more comets in 1963 (C/1963 F1) and 1965 (C/1965 S2). His first Nova was Delphini 1967 (HR Delphini), which turned out to have an unusual light-curve. He discovered two more novae, LV Vul (in 1968) and V368 Sct (in 1970). He found his fifth and final comet in 1983: C/1983 H1 (IRAS-Araki-Alcock). In 1991 he found the nova V838 Her.

## Contents

* 1 Honours and awards
* 2 Personal life
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## Honours and awards

Plaque to George Alcock, Peterborough Cathedral

Alcock became a Fellow of 3 British societies in 1947 — the Royal Astronomical Society, the Royal Geographical Society, and the Royal Meteorological Society. He won the Jackson-Gwilt Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1963. On 7 February 1979, Queen Elizabeth II conferred on him an MBE. In 1981, he received the International Amateur Achievement Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.[2]

An asteroid, 3174 Alcock is named after him.[citation needed]

Outside of astronomy, he maintained a multitude of other active interests, notably in meteorology (the study of weather, unrelated to his interest in meteors).[citation needed], natural history (specifically ornithology and botany), and church architecture.[5]

In 1996, Genesis Publications published a limited edition signed biography, authored by Kay Williams, entitled "Under An English Heaven - The Life of George Alcock".

After his death, a plaque was placed in Peterborough Cathedral in his memory.[6]

## Personal life

In 1936, Alcock met Mary Green through their shared interest in astronomy. They were married on 7 June 1941, and moved to the village of Farcet from 1955, in a house they called Antares, where Alcock discovered five comets and five nova.[7] Mary died on 25 October 1991. The couple had no children.[2]

## References

1. ↑ GRO Register of Births: Births DEC 1912 3b 337 PETERBRO, mmn = Deacon
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hurst, G. M. & Alcock, G. E. D. (April 2001) "Obituary: George Eric Deacon Alcock, 1912-2000". Journal of the British Astronomical Association vol.111 (no.2), pp. 64-66. Bibliographic Code: 2001JBAA..111...64H
3. ↑ "1935JBAA...45..220. Page 220". Journal of the British Astronomical Association 45: 220. 1935. Bibcode: 1935JBAA...45..220.. http://cdsads.u-strasbg.fr/full/1935JBAA...45..220.. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
4. ↑ Williams, Kay (26 January 2026). "George Alcock obituary". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jan/26/guardianobituaries2.
5. ↑ Williams, Kay (26 January 2026). "George Alcock obituary". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jan/26/guardianobituaries2.
6. ↑ Unveiling the Cathedral plaque Cathedral plaque is unveiled for starman George
7. ↑ "George Alcock (1912-2000) remembered". 11 August 1999. http://martinmobberley.co.uk/Alcock.html.

## External links

* Ian Ridpath. New Scientist The man with the astronomical memory. New Scientist 16 December 1982

Preceded by
Frank Bateson |  Amateur Achievement Award of Astronomical Society of the Pacific
1981  | Succeeded by
Ben Mayer

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*[m.]: married