SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (AP) _ Amateur stargazer Doug Snyder had spent daysscanning the skies with his 20-inch reflector telescope hoping to findsomething new when he happened upon ``a little gray smudge.''

The little smudge proved to be a verybig deal: It was a new comet.

The Central Bureau for AstronomicalTelegrams _ the Harvard University-affiliated clearinghouse for new discoveries_ confirmed Tuesday that Snyder was the first person to sight the comet Mondayas it streaked through the Aquila Constellation in the heart of the SummerMilky Way, which is a specific section of the Milky Way galaxy.

A Japanese amateur astronomer, ShigekiMurakami, sighted the comet a few hours later and is considered a co-discoverer.

The find was dubbed CometSnyder-Murakami.

``It's been a whirlwind couple ofdays,'' Snyder told the Sierra Vista Herald.

Snyder said that after sighting thesmudge early Monday, he did some research using a sky atlas and numerousdatabases, but couldn't locate any references to his find. He checked thecomet's location again.

``The comet had moved a bit, but nottoo much, and I found it again fairly easily. Dawn was coming, and my view ofthe comet was fading, but by now I was becoming more sure of my discovery,''Snyder said.

According to the bureau, CometSnyder-Murakami was the third comet to be discovered visually during the pastyear.