The Gordon Myers Amateur Achievement Award, known until 2018 as the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, is one of nine annual astronomical awards managed by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. It recognizes "significant contributions to

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

amateur astronomy Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...

by those not employed in the field of astronomy in a professional capacity." The contributions can be done in the fields of both

observational astronomy Observational astronomy is a division of astronomy that is concerned with recording data about the observable universe, in contrast with theoretical astronomy, which is mainly concerned with calculating the measurable implications of physical m ...

or astronomical technologies. The award has been given to amateur astronomers from various countries since 1979 and has become one of the most geographically diverse astronomical awards. Award winners receive a

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

, which is presented at the Annual Meeting Awards Banquet. The monetary value of the award is US$500. Candidates can be nominated by any member of the astronomical community (with the exception of the nominees themselves and their families) and the nominations should be accompanied by other letters of support. All the nominations have to be delivered to the Astronomical Society of the Pacific by December 15 of the nominating year and remain valid for three years. The winners are selected by the Awards Committee appointed by the Board of Directors. The committee have the right not to award any of the nominees if they do not consider their achievements exceptional enough, which has already happened several times.

Winners

Recipients of the award have been: , , - , 1986 !scope=row, , , Computational astronomy , , - , 1987 !scope=row, , , Variable stars , , - , 1988 !scope=row, , ,

Astrophotography Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1840, but it was no ...

, , - , 1989 !scope=row, , ,

Double star In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes. This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a bi ...

s , , - , 1990 !scope=row, , ,

Meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

s , , - , 1991 !scope=row, , , Asteroid

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

s , , - , 1992 !scope=row, &

Helen Lines Helen Chambliss Williams Lines (July 13, 1918 – January 29, 2001) was an American amateur astronomer. In her beginnings she was a deep-sky observer and astrophotographer. Astronomy In 1969, Lines was one of early members of the Phoenix Astro ...

, , Photoelectric photometry of variable stars , , - , 1993 !scope=row, , / , Comets , , - , 1994 !scope=row, , , ALPO founder , , - , 1995 !scope=row, , , Planetary imaging , , - , 1996 !scope=row, , , Variable stars , , - , 1997 !scope=row, , , Variable stars/occultations , , - , 1998 !scope=row, , , Variable stars/comets , , - , 1999 !scope=row, , ,

Trans-Neptunian object A trans-Neptunian object (TNO), also written transneptunian object, is any minor planet in the Solar System that orbits the Sun at a greater average distance than Neptune, which has a semi-major axis of 30.1 astronomical units (au). Typically, ...

s , , - , 2000 !scope=row, , ,

Deep-sky A deep-sky object (DSO) is any astronomical object that is not an individual star or Solar System object (such as Sun, Moon, planet, comet, etc.). The classification is used for the most part by amateur astronomers to denote visually observed f ...

imaging/

Comet Hyakutake Comet Hyakutake (, formally designated C/1996 B2) is a comet, discovered on 31 January 1996, that passed very close to Earth in March of that year. It was dubbed the Great Comet of 1996; its passage near the Earth was one of the closest com ...

, , - , 2001 !scope=row, , , Computing comet orbits , , - , 2002 !scope=row, , colspan = 3, ''No award'' , - , 2003 !scope=row, , ,

Near-Earth asteroid A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...

s , , - , 2004 !scope=row, , , Imaging and

image processing An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

, , - , 2005 !scope=row, , ,

Light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...

, , - , 2006 !scope=row, , , Visual and CCD observations of variable stars/comets , , - , 2007 !scope=row, , ,

R Coronae Borealis R Coronae Borealis is a low-mass yellow supergiant star in the constellation of Corona Borealis. It is the prototype of the R Cor Bor class of variable stars, which fade by several magnitudes at irregular intervals. R Coronae Boreali ...

stars/variable star monitoring , , - , 2008 !scope=row, , , CCD imaging , , - , 2009 !scope=row, , , Developing CCD instrumentation and a worldwide sky survey program , , - , 2010 !scope=row, , , Adapted Canadian Meteorological Centre forecast products for the purpose of planning observing sessions with highly accurate high resolution point forecasts of cloud cover, transparency, seeing, darkness, wind, temperature and humidity over North and Central America , , - , 2011 !scope=row, , , Advancing the fields of extra-solar planet research and stellar astrophysics , , - , 2012 !scope=row, , , Photoelectric

photometry Photometry can refer to: * Photometry (optics), the science of measurement of visible light in terms of its perceived brightness to human vision * Photometry (astronomy), the measurement of the flux or intensity of an astronomical object's electrom ...

and high-resolution

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...

, , - , 2013 !scope=row, , colspan = 3, ''No award'' , - , 2014 !scope=row, , , Instrumental in helping redefine the Z Cam sub-type of dwarf novae, and discovered the recurrent nova V745 Sco in outburst in the morning sky, triggering an AAVSO Alert Notice and significant attention from the astronomical community , , - , 2015 !scope=row, , colspan=3, ''No award'' , - , 2016 !scope=row, , colspan=3, ''No award'' , - , 2017 !scope=row, , ,

Supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

s , , - , 2018 !scope=row, , ,

Exoplanets An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

, , -

Notes

References

* * {{cite web , title=Past Amateur Achievement Winners , url= http://www.astrosociety.org/membership/awards/pastamateur.html , publisher=Astronomical Society of the Pacific , access-date=November 21, 2009 Astronomy prizes Awards established in 1979

Winners

See also

Notes

References