A Century Ago, Pioneering Astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Showed Us What Stars Are Made Of
The trailblazing Harvard scientist, who documented the dominance of hydrogen and helium in stars, is still inspiring researchers today
By Elizabeth Landau
Stellar Atmospheres is available at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73996
British astronomer and astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin was born #OTD in 1900.
In 1925 she proposed that stars were composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Her groundbreaking conclusion was initially rejected, because it contradicted the science of the time, which held that no significant elemental differences distinguished the Sun and Earth. Independent observations eventually proved that she was correct.
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73996
Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist Ernst Öpik was born #OTD in 1893.
He is best known for his pioneering work on the structure and dynamics of the Solar System, particularly his studies on the Oort Cloud, the origin of comets, and stellar evolution. Öpik's work laid the foundation for many modern astronomical theories and influenced later research on the distribution of comets and small celestial bodies in the outer reaches of the Solar System.
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin: The Woman Who Unraveled the Stars
By: Akshita Singh
Her PhD thesis is available at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73996
Seeing dark matter in the Andromeda galaxy
By Vera Rubin, from the archives, via @physicstoday
This is a story of why and how Kent Ford and I studied the orbital velocities of stars in the Andromeda galaxy 40 years ago. Our study was influential in the later conclusion that most of the matter in the universe is dark.
https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/59/12/8/387114/Seeing-dark-matter-in-the-Andromeda-galaxy
Do photons wear out? An astrophysicist explains light’s ability to travel vast cosmic distances without losing energy.
🚨 Astronomers have witnessed the dawn of a new solar system!
Using ALMA and JWST they observed the first specks of planet-forming material — hot minerals beginning to solidify around HOPS-315, a baby star 1300 light-years away.
This marks the first time a planetary system has been identified at such an early stage in its formation – a window to the past of our own Solar System.
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2512a/
#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science
📷 ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al
The Origin of the Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs
The story of the doom-bringing rock may help us prevent a repeat catastrophe
BY SEAN RAYMOND
The end of the story is written, literally, in stone.
Asteroids and Astrophysics at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/24464
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/40414
![Photograph of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-1979) at Harvard College Observatory Local number: SIA Acc. 90-105 [SIA2009-1326]
Taken during the early to mid-20th century, the image portrays Payne-Gaposchkin in a thoughtful pose, dressed in a modest sweater, with natural light softly illuminating her face. In the background, shelves and filing cabinets filled with papers and scientific documents suggest an academic setting deeply immersed in research and discovery.](/proxy/post_attachment/654149/89f0e1d9a3.jpg "Photograph of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-1979) at Harvard College Observatory Local number: SIA Acc. 90-105 [SIA2009-1326]
Taken during the early to mid-20th century, the image portrays Payne-Gaposchkin in a thoughtful pose, dressed in a modest sweater, with natural light softly illuminating her face. In the background, shelves and filing cabinets filled with papers and scientific documents suggest an academic setting deeply immersed in research and discovery.")
![Photograph of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-1979) at Harvard College Observatory Local number: SIA Acc. 90-105 [SIA2009-1326]
Smithsonian Institution/Science Service, restored by Adam Cuerden - Air and Space Museum online gallery](/proxy/post_attachment/298778/ba1a8a460b.jpg "Photograph of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-1979) at Harvard College Observatory Local number: SIA Acc. 90-105 [SIA2009-1326]
Smithsonian Institution/Science Service, restored by Adam Cuerden - Air and Space Museum online gallery")
