{{short description|American astronomical researcher}} {{about|the American astronomical researcher|the Canadian disability rights activist|Beryl Potter}} {{Infobox person | name = Beryl H. Potter | image = BerylHPotter1955.png | alt = A middle-aged white woman wearing glasses, seated at an astronomical device. | caption = Beryl H. Potter using a blink comparator, from a 1955 newspaper. | other_names = | birth_name = Edna Beryl Hinkle | birth_date = September 16, 1900 | birth_place = Goldsmith, Indiana | death_date = August 10, 1985 | death_place = Frankfort, Indiana | occupation = Astronomical researcher | years_active = | known_for = Asteroid [[1729 Beryl]] | notable_works = | spouse(s) = | relatives = }}
'''Beryl H. Potter''' (September 16, 1900 – August 10, 1985), born '''Edna Beryl Hinkle''', was an American astronomical researcher. She helped to discover asteroids and, in turn, an asteroid was named for her.
== Early life == Beryl Hinkle was born in [[Goldsmith, Indiana]], the daughter of Edmond Isaac Hinkle and Blanche Adele Cross Hinkle.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1970-05-13|title=Mrs. Blanche Hinkle|pages=7|work=The Kokomo Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54887932/mrs-blanche-hinkle/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her father was a doctor.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1922-05-20|title=Goldsmith|pages=3|work=The Tipton Daily Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54887772/goldsmith/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She graduated from Goldsmith High School in 1917, and attended [[Indiana University]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=1985-08-13|title=Mrs. Beryl Potter|pages=22|work=Journal and Courier|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54887335/mrs-beryl-potter/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
== Career == Potter was a research assistant at [[Indiana Asteroid Program]] at [[Goethe Link Observatory]] in Indiana,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Edmondson|first=F. K.|date=1951|title=Research|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1951AJ.....56..154E|journal=The Astronomical Journal|volume=56|pages=154|doi=10.1086/106572|bibcode=1951AJ.....56..154E}}</ref> from 1942 to 1965.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1985-08-14|title=West Lafayette|pages=50|work=The Indianapolis News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54887689/the-indianapolis-news/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was assistant to astronomer [[Frank K. Edmondson]] when he discovered a [[dwarf star]] in 1944.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1944-02-07|title=I. U. Professor Reports Finding Star Moving 155 Miles a Second|pages=7|work=The Courier-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54887046/i-u-professor-reports-finding-star/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1944-02-06|title=Hoosier Discovers Star 'Speed Demon', Traveling More than 500,000 M. P. H.|pages=38|work=The Indianapolis Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54890487/hoosier-discovers-star-speed-demon/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She analyzed thousands photographic plates using a device called a blink comparator,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1955-03-13|title=Our Little Bit of Heaven|pages=128|work=The Indianapolis Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54888896/mrs-beryl-potter-research-assistant/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and "contributed immensely to the program of minor planet observations".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Schmadel|first=Lutz D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eHv1CAAAQBAJ&q=%22Beryl+H.+Potter%22+Indiana&pg=PA218|title=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names|date=2013-11-11|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-662-06615-7|pages=218|language=en}}</ref> In 1952, she helped to discover the asteroid named [[1578 Kirkwood]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=1952-03-23|title=New Minor Planet Named for Pioneer Hoosier Scientist|pages=21|work=Palladium-Item|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54889661/new-minor-planet-named-for-pioneer/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1955, she was part of an "all-Hoosier team" that discovered the asteroid named [[1602 Indiana]]; "Mrs. Beryl Potter, research assistant, gets credit for the most important work, since she actually spotted the tiny planet among thousands of stars on photographic plates," explained a 1955 newspaper report.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1955-02-10|title=Astronomers Discover New Planet, Pick Name of Indiana|pages=11|work=The Tipton Daily Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54888020/astronomers-discover-new-planet-pick/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> An asteroid ([[1729 Beryl]]) was officially named in her honor in 1968,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1968-06-08|title=Planetary Names|pages=2|work=The Terre Haute Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54888691/planetary-names/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> by astronomer [[Paul Herget]].<ref name=":1">[https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.2814912 "Beryl Potter"] ''Physics Today'' (February 1986): 92.</ref>
== Personal life == Beryl Hinkle married William N. Potter. They lived in [[Bloomington, Indiana]], and had seven children. In 1936 she had serious health issues requiring more than a dozen [[blood transfusion]]s.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1936-12-28|title=Has Been Given 17 Blood Transfusions|pages=1|work=The Kokomo Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54892486/has-been-given-17-blood-transfusions/|access-date=2020-07-07|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She moved to [[West Lafayette, Indiana]] in 1975.<ref name=":0" /> She died in 1985, aged 84 years, in [[Frankfort, Indiana|Frankfort]].<ref name=":1" />
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Beryl H.}} [[Category:American astronomers]] [[Category:American women astronomers]] [[Category:1900 births]] [[Category:1985 deaths]] [[Category:Scientists from Indiana]] [[Category:20th-century American women]] [[Category:20th-century American people]]