Charles Wesley Elmer (1872–1954) was an American amateur astronomer and court reporter who co-founded the

Perkin-Elmer PerkinElmer, Inc., previously styled Perkin-Elmer, is an American global corporation focused in the business areas of diagnostics, life science research, food, environmental and industrial testing. Its capabilities include detection, imaging, inf ...

optical company in 1937. He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and for most of his life he was employed as a court reporter. However, as a hobby he developed a strong interest in astronomy and optical telescopes. In 1936 he met Richard S. Perkin, and the two decided to form an optical business in New York. This would grow to become the

optical company, which was officially incorporated on April 19, 1937. Charles Elmer served as the secretary-treasurer of the Perkin-Elmer company until he retired in 1949. He was married to May Custer, the grand niece of General

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

. In 1937 he was awarded the Merit Award by the

American Association of Variable Star Observers The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an international nonprofit organization, founded in 1911, focused on coordinating, analyzing, publishing, and archiving variable star observations made largely by amateur astronomers. ...

for his "long continued service and devotion to the activities of the Association". The crater

Elmer Elmer is a name of Germanic British origin. The given name originated as a surname, a medieval variant of the given name Aylmer, derived from Old English ''æþel'' (noble) and ''mær'' (famous). It was adopted as a given name in the United State ...

on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

is named after him, as is the

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

2493 Elmer Year 493 ( CDXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Albinus and Eusebius (or, less frequently, year 1246 ''Ab urbe co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elmer, Charles Wesley 1872 births 1954 deaths Amateur astronomers Optical physicists American astronomers