# Ben Mayer

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{{Short description|American astronomer}}
{{For|the asteroid|2863 Ben Mayer}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2007}}
'''Ben Mayer''' (1925 in Germany – 28 December 1999) was an [amateur astronomer](/source/Amateur_astronomy) perhaps best known for the invention of the projection blink comparator (PROBLICOM), a low-cost version of the [blink comparator](/source/blink_comparator).<ref>{{cite journal | bibcode = 2000S&T....99d..84D | title = Ben Mayer (1925 - 28 December 1999) | author = di Cicco, D. | journal = [Sky & Telescope](/source/Sky_%26_Telescope) | year = 2000 | volume = 99 | issue = 4 | page = 84 }}</ref> This inexpensive tool allowed amateur astronomers to contribute to some phases of serious research. Professionally, Mayer worked as an [interior design](/source/interior_design)er.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Oliver|first1=Myrna|title=Ben Mayer; Amateur Astronomer Invented Equipment for the Pros|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jan-01-me-49716-story.html|access-date=9 July 2015|work=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)|date=1 January 2000|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223181801/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jan/01/local/me-49716|archive-date=23 December 2012}}</ref>

Mayer was the first ever to photograph a [nova](/source/nova) in 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 of [Nova Cygni 1975](/source/Nova_Cygni_1975) in several stages of brightening.

Mayer was a member of the [American Association of Variable Star Observers](/source/American_Association_of_Variable_Star_Observers) and a frequent lecturer at the [Riverside Telescope Makers Conference](/source/RTMC_Astronomy_Expo). In 1982 he won the [Amateur Achievement Award](/source/Amateur_Achievement_Award_of_Astronomical_Society_of_the_Pacific) of the [Astronomical Society of the Pacific](/source/Astronomical_Society_of_the_Pacific). Perhaps the best words summarizing Mayer's contributions and style appeared in The Griffith Observer memorial as written by [Ed Krupp](/source/Ed_Krupp), Director of the Griffith Observatory in the June, 2000 edition (Vol 64, No. 6).

== Death ==
Mayer died on December 28, 1999, at the age of 74.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box | before = [George Alcock](/source/George_Alcock) | title = [Amateur Achievement Award of Astronomical Society of the Pacific](/source/Amateur_Achievement_Award_of_Astronomical_Society_of_the_Pacific) | years = 1982 | after = [Jay U. Gunter](/source/Jay_U._Gunter)}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Ben}}
Category:American astronomers
Category:Amateur astronomers
Category:1925 births
Category:1999 deaths
Category:German emigrants to the United States

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