Final answer:
Astronomers, including amateurs, dedicate many hours to observe interesting long period comets, often using telescopes to scan the skies for hundreds of hours and utilizing spacecraft for closer observation near the Sun. They must differentiate potential discoveries from known objects and confirm their findings through meticulous observation and sky atlas consultation.
Step-by-step explanation:
To observe interesting long period comets, an astronomer engages in diligent and often solitary work. They spend many hours, sometimes totaling more than 400, scanning the skies with their telescopes. This challenging task requires not only identifying a small, fuzzy patch that could be a comet but also differentiating it from nebulae and galaxies. They consult an atlas of the sky and must verify that they haven't rediscovered a known comet. Persistence is a must, as the average amateur astronomer may spend about 420 hours before uncovering a new comet. Observation with spacecraft like ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is also a modern tool for spotting comets close to the Sun.
The work of comet hunters can contribute significantly to our understanding of the solar system's most primitive objects, which offer insights into the early conditions of our cosmic neighborhood. Comets, which are visible to us only when they come near Earth, exhibit shifts in their positions against the starry background from night to night, a motion different from predictable planetary routes. Despite appearing for variable periods, ranging from weeks to months, each comet's observation adds valuable data to the field of astronomy.