Michael Mastlin, born in Göppingen, Germany on September 30, 1550, is a notable German astronomer who is most famously known as the mentor of Johannes Kepler. In 1570, he received a Master's degree in Mathematics and Astronomy from Tübingen University, also in Germany. He is also famously known for being attributed to Gallileo's adoption of heliocentrism. In his lifetime, Mastlin made many significant and notable discoveries both in space and on paper. One of his most significant feats was that he was the first person to calculate the orbit of a comet. He also is the unofficially the first person to have calculated the Golden Ratio (0.6180340) in 1597 when he included it in a letter to Johannes Kepler. As for discoveries that he made in space, Mastlin is known for charting the Pleiades star cluster on December 24, 1579 (11 stars officially charted and 14 observed). Mastlin died on October 30, 1631 of old age at the age of 81.
Work Cited
O'Connor, J.J. "Michael Mästlin." Mastlin Biography. N.p., July 2008. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
