David Elijah Packer: cluster variables, meteors and the solar corona

TL;DR

This paper reviews the life and observations of amateur astronomer David Elijah Packer, highlighting his discoveries of variable stars, meteors, nebulae, and his controversial claims about photographing the solar corona.

Contribution

It documents Packer's contributions to astronomy and discusses the context and impact of his observational work and claims.

Findings

Discovered a variable star in globular cluster M5

Reported brightening in galaxy M77's nucleus

Made controversial daylight solar corona photographs

Abstract

David Elijah Packer (1862-1936), a librarian by profession, was an enthusiastic amateur astronomer who observed from London and Birmingham. He first came to the attention of the astronomical community in 1890 when he discovered a variable star in the globular cluster M5, only the second periodic variable to be discovered in a globular cluster. He also observed meteors and nebulae, on one occasion reporting a brightening in the nucleus of the galaxy M77. However, his remarkable claims in 1896 that he had photographed the solar corona in daylight were soon shown to be flawed.