Ben Mayer
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(November 2007) |
Ben Mayer(1925 in Germany – 28 December 1999) was anamateur astronomerperhaps best known for the invention of the projection blink comparator (PROBLICOM), a low-cost version of theblink comparator.[1]This inexpensive tool allowed amateur astronomers to contribute to some phases of serious research. Professionally, Mayer worked as aninterior designer.[2]
Mayer was the first ever to photograph anovain its brightening phase. On the night of August 29, 1975, Mayer was using an automatic camera to photograph the sky, hoping to track meteors large enough to survive entry into the Earth's atmosphere. After learning of the nova, he realized it was in the part of the sky he was photographing. He retrieved his negatives from the trash (there were no meteors on the photographs) and found a series of images ofNova Cygni 1975in several stages of brightening.
Mayer was a member of theAmerican Association of Variable Star Observersand a frequent lecturer at theRiverside Telescope Makers Conference.In 1982 he won theAmateur Achievement Awardof theAstronomical Society of the Pacific.Perhaps the best words summarizing Mayer's contributions and style appeared in The Griffith Observer memorial as written byEd Krupp,Director of the Griffith Observatory in the June, 2000 edition (Vol 64, No. 6).
Death
[edit]Mayer died on December 28, 1999 at the age of 74.
References
[edit]- ^di Cicco, D. (2000). "Ben Mayer (1925 - 28 December 1999)".Sky & Telescope.99(4): 84.Bibcode:2000S&T....99d..84D.
- ^Oliver, Myrna (1 January 2000)."Ben Mayer; Amateur Astronomer Invented Equipment for the Pros".Los Angeles Times.Archivedfrom the original on 23 December 2012.Retrieved9 July2015.