Leslie Peltier

Leslie Copus Peltier ( born January 2, 1900 in Delphos, Ohio; † 10 May 1980) was an American astronomer.

Professionally, he was a designer for children's toys and children's furniture in Delphos, but was also a highly accomplished amateur astronomer.

His main interest was the observation of variable stars. He was also a member of the AAVSO ( American Association of Variable Stars Upper server ), which still belong to well-known astronomers today. In addition, he has discovered twelve comets, ten of which bear his name, such as C/1954 M2 ( Krešák - Peltier ). The famous astronomer Harlow Shapley once described him as "the world's best amateur astronomers ."

He became known through his autobiography, Starlight Nights (ISBN 0-933346-94-8 ), in which he writes about his own beginning and the magic of stargazing, on a farm without being affected by light.

In his honor, we have named the asteroid 3850 Peltier after him. In addition, the Leslie Peltier Award, the Astronomical League annually awards.