Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

FY9 / Sun conjunction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

>>Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (May 10, 1900 – December 7, 1979) was an English-American astronomer who in 1925 was first to show that the Sun is mainly composed of hydrogen, contradicting accepted wisdom at the time.

Cecilia Helena Payne was one of three children born in Wendover, England to Elena (Pertz) and Edward John Payne, a London barrister, historian and accomplished musician. Her father died when she was four years old, forcing her mother to raise the family on her own. She attended St Paul's Girls' School and then won a scholarship to read botany, physics and chemistry at Newnham College, Cambridge University in 1919. Here, her interest in astronomy was sparked by Eddington's lecture on his eclipse expedition to Brazil to photograph the stars near the eclipsed Sun as a test of Einstein's general theory of relativity.

She completed her studies but was not awarded a degree as Cambridge did not grant degrees to women at that time.

After meeting Harlow Shapley, the Director of the Harvard College Observatory, who had just begun began a graduate program in astronomy, she left England for the United States in 1923. This was made possible by a fellowship to encourage women to study at the Observatory. The first student was Adelaide Ames (1922); the second student was Payne.

Shapley persuaded her to write a doctoral dissertation, and so in 1925, she became the first person to earn a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard for her thesis: "Stellar Atmospheres, A Contribution to the Observational Study of High Temperature in the Reversing Layers of Stars". Astronomer Otto Struve characterized it as "undoubtedly the most brilliant Ph.D. thesis ever written in astronomy". By applying the ionization theory developed by Indian physicist Megh Nad Saha she was able to accurately relate the spectral classes of stars to their actual temperatures. She showed that the great variation in stellar absorption lines was due to differing amounts of ionization that occurred at different temperatures, and not due to the different abundances of elements. She correctly suggested that silicon, carbon, and other common metals seen in the sun were found in about the same relative amounts as on earth but the helium and particularly hydrogen were vastly more abundant (by about a factor of one million in the case of hydrogen). The thesis thus established that hydrogen was the overwhelming constituent of the stars. When her thesis was reviewed, she was dissuaded by Henry Norris Russell from concluding that the composition of the sun is different from the earth, which was the accepted wisdom at the time. However Russell changed his mind four years later when other evidence emerged.

She became an American citizen in 1931. On a tour through Europe in 1933, she met Russian-born Sergei I. Gaposchkin in Germany. She helped him get a visa to the United States and they married in March 1934, and eventually had three children, Edward, Katherine and Peter. Payne-Gaposchkin remained scientifically active throughout her life, spending her entire academic career at Harvard. At one point she considered leaving Harvard because of her low status and poor salary as she held no official position there. She served as a technical assistant to Shapley from 1927 to 1938. Shapley, however, made efforts to improve her position and in 1938 was she given the title of "astronomer". In 1956 she became the first female tenured professor at Harvard, and by her appointment to the Chair of the Department of Astronomy, she also became the first woman to head a department at Harvard.

After her doctorate Payne then studied stars of high luminosity in order to understand the structure of the Milky Way. Later with her husband, she surveyed all the stars brighter than the tenth magnitude. She then studied variable stars, making, with her assistants over 1,250,000 observations. This was later extended to the Magellanic Clouds, adding a further 2,000,000 observations of variable stars.

Small Magellanic Cloud

Large Magellanic Cloud

This data was used to determine the paths of stellar evolution.

Appraisal of her career

According to G. Kass-Simon and Patricia Farnes, her career marked a sort of turning point at Harvard College Observatory. Under the direction of Harlow Shapley, the observatory had already offered more opportunities in astronomy to women than other institutions, and notable achievements had been made earlier in the century by Williamina Fleming, Antonia Maury, Annie Jump Cannon, and Henrietta Leavitt. However with Payne-Gaposchkin's Ph.D., women entered the 'mainstream'. The trail she blazed into the largely male-dominated scientific community was an inspiration to many.<<

She published several books including:

"Stars of High Luminosity" (1930),

"Variable Stars" (1938),

"Variable Stars and Galactic Structure" (1954),

"Introduction to Astronomy" (1956),

"The Galactic Novae" (1957),

"The Dyer’s Hand: An Autobiography" (1979).

Elected member of Royal Astronomical Society while still a student at Cambridge 1923

Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy (1934)

Member of the American Philosophical Society (1936)

Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1943)

Emeritus Professor of Harvard University in 1967

Henry Norris Russell Lectureship of the American Astronomical Society (1976)

Rittenhouse Medal from the Franklin Institute and the Award of Merit from Radcliffe College

Honorary Degrees from Wilson College, Smith College, Western College, Colby College, and the Women’s Medical College of Philadelphia

Asteroid 2039 Payne-Gaposchkin named after her

The reward of the young scientist is the emotional thrill of being the first person in the history of the world to see something or to understand something. Nothing can compare with that experience... The reward of the old scientist is the sense of having seen a vague sketch grow into a masterly landscape.

—Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (accepting the Henry Norris Russell Prize from the American Astronomical Society)

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Assuming noon = 12:00 UT

Astrological Setting (Tropical - Placidus)

RIYAL Thu May 10 1900 UT 12h00m00s Lat51n46 Lon0w46 SORT ALL

Planet	Longitude	Latitude	Declin.	Const.
KX14	0Ca10	0n05	23n32	Gem
Radamantus	0Ar36	2s02	1s37	Psc
PB112	0Sa37 r	14s12	34s09	Lup
CE10	0Li38 r	23s52	22s02	Crt
Thereus	0Ta44	1s28	10n22	Ari
RD215	0Sa55 r	14n35	6s04	Oph
TY364	1Sa25 r	24n59	4n03	Her
XX143	1Ar48	6s10	4s57	Psc
RN43	1Li54 r	0s58	1s39	Vir
(Moon)	2Li24	4s53	5s26	Vir
Huya	2Ge40	14s42	6n16	Tau
CO104	2Sc42 r	2s07	14s24	Vir
TX300	3Sc07 r	25s04	35s51	Cen
PJ30	4Le09	1s12	18n04	Cnc
CR105	4Ar11	19s07	15s51	Cet
UX25	4Cp11 r	18n38	4s46	Ser
CC22	4Ta14	6s19	6n59	Cet
Venus	4Ca19	3n32	26n55	Gem
Saturn	4Cp30 r	1n01	22s21	Sgr
RP120	4Sc38 r	5s13	17s59	Vir
RL43	5Ge27	11s45	9n39	Tau
Amycus	5Aq54 r	2s30	21s14	Cap
Chaos	5Aq59 r	11s45	30s08	Mic
Typhon	6Pi00	0s39	9s55	Aqr
Quaoar	6Le01	6s55	12n04	Cnc
Pholus	6Ca23	7s04	16n14	Gem
HB57	6Ca41	15s12	8n06	Mon
SB60	6Li56 r	24s23	25s00	Hya
TO66	7Sc03 r	20s10	32s46	Cen
Echeclus	7Li07 r	1n17	1s39	Vir
96PW	7Vi56 r	8n30	16n28	Leo
DH5	7Vi57 r	2n32	10n56	Leo
GZ32	8Sc04 r	14n41	0s17	Lib
VQ94	8Ar05	50s52	42s33	Phe
Jupiter	8Sa08 r	0n55	20s46	Oph
Sedna	8Ar20	8s27	4s28	Cet
RR43	8Sa34 r	8n53	12s58	Oph
GB32	8Ca41	13s44	9n27	Mon
GM137	9Ta38	11s23	3n53	Cet
AW197	9Ta47	23n21	36n41	And
FP185	10Ge16	29s21	7s05	Eri
WN188	10Aq21r	1s40	19s16	Cap
RG33	10Le57	33n20	49n03	UMa
Node	11Sa09r	0n00	22s07	Oph
VU2	11Sa20r	0s42	22s50	Oph
Uranus	11Sa22r	0n03	22s06	Oph
CZ118	11Ca39	24n41	47n30	Lyn
OX3	11Li49 r	3s10	7s35	Vir
Asbolus	11Le51	13n51	30n30	Cnc
BU48	11Sa59r	12n40	9s40	Oph
UR163	12Sc06r	0s45	16s11	Lib
RM43	12Cp11r	9s51	32s42	Sgr
TL66	12Cp19r	22n11	0s47	Aql
OP32	12Vi34 r	9s00	1s29	Sex
RZ215	12Li40 r	14s38	18s26	Crv
OO67	13Sc23r	20n05	3n21	Ser
LE31	14Ta16	23s11	6s05	Eri
Nessus	14Pi21	11s29	16s43	Aqr
Crantor	14Ca25	2s01	20n39	Gem
FZ173	14Ge27	12n05	34n32	Aur
RZ214	14Sc36r	4n21	12s04	Lib
PN34	14Ca43	3n32	26n10	Gem
Apogee	14Vi54 r	5s13	1n08	Leo
Pluto	15Ge33	9s20	13n24	Ori
Teharonhi	15Li55 r	2s31	8s35	Vir
KF77	15Pi56	2s07	7s30	Aqr
SA278	16Aq07	9n10	7s15	Aqr
AZ84	16Pi26	13n22	6n58	Psc
Logos	16Ar46	2s35	4n12	Psc
Elatus	16Sa57r	1n17	21s32	Oph
FZ53	17Sa56r	30n53	7n52	Oph
TC302	18Aq11	32s30	45s46	Gru
YQ179	18Ar27	20s40	11s53	Cet
QB243	18Ge39	6n16	29n12	Aur
Cyllarus	18Le46	12n38	27n10	Leo
QD112	19Le11	8n56	23n32	Leo
Pylenor	19Vi16 r	3n14	7n14	Leo
Sun	19Ta21	0n00	17n35	Ari
FY9	19Ta24	14s31	3n35	Tau
(Midheav)	19Ta31	0n00	17n37	Ari
Varuna	19Aq34	11s44	26s03	PsA
Orcus	19Pi50	20n01	14n21	Peg
VS2	20Sa26r	10s09	33s13	Sco
PA44	20Ar28	0n46	8n42	Psc
Chariklo	20Aq31	7n38	7s24	Aqr
VR130	21Ca15	3s10	18n39	Gem
Okyrhoe	21Pi30	1n31	1s59	Psc
UJ438	22Cp12r	1n45	19s54	Sgr
Ixion	22Le30	18n58	31n49	LMi
Ceto	22Pi48	0s40	3s28	Psc
Eris	23Pi01	32s46	32s30	Scl
Pelion	23Sa08r	6n58	16s19	Oph
GQ21	23Ge29	12s32	10n47	Ori
Chiron	24Sa02r	5n58	17s21	Oph
SQ73	24Li40 r	3s31	12s50	Vir
Mars	24Ar49	0s46	8n55	Psc
Neptune	25Ge21	1s12	22n10	Tau
Bienor	25Vi27 r	8s30	6s00	Leo
DA62	25Cp46r	54s38	72s51	Ind
TD10	25Li47 r	2n17	7s50	Vir
BL41	25Aq50	7n59	5s23	Aqr
WL7	25Aq57	7s14	19s40	Aqr
CY118	26Ta31	24s31	4s31	Eri
MS4	26Le52	16s21	2s51	Hya
GV9	27Ta08	4n38	24n03	Tau
CF119	27Ar15	19n24	28n28	Psc
XA255	27Pi26	11s52	11s53	Cet
Vertex	27Cp44
QB1	27Sc54r	1s55	21s34	Lib
EL61	28Ge21	15s18	8n09	Ori
XR190	28Pi36	45n00	39n56	Lac
XZ255	28Sc40r	0n54	19s00	Lib
Mercury	29Ar09	2s25	8n55	Psc
MW12	29Le09 r	11s59	0n31	Sex
Hylonome	29Cp20r	3n38	16s45	Cap
CO1	29Ge27	4n52	28n19	Aur
QF6	29Li51 r	24n45	11n47	Boo
(Ascend)	29Le56	0n00	11n30	Leo
OM67	29Li56 r	21s34	31s28	Cen
Deucalion	29Ge57	0n13	23n40	Gem

Focused Minor Planets

Astronomia = 19 Ta 32

Venus = 4 Ca 19 Semisquare

Varuna = 19 Aq 34 Square

Orcus = 19 Pi 50 Sextile

VS2 = 20 Sa 26 r Quincunx

YQ179 = 18 Ar 27 Semisextile

____________________

Deucalion = 29 Ge 57

Mercury = 29 Ar 09 Sextile

XR190 = 28 Pi 36 Square

QB1 = 27 Sc 54 r Quincunx

____________________

UX25 = 4 Cp 11 r

Saturn = 4 Cp 30 r

Varuna = 19 Aq 34 Semisquare

CR105 = 4 Ar 11 Square

Typhon = 6 Pi 00 Sextile

____________________

UX25 = 4 Cp 11 r Sextile

Saturn = 4 Cp 30 r

Venus = 4 Ca 19 Trine

Quaoar = 6 Le 01 Quincunx

Chaos = 5 Aq 59 r Semisextile

____________________

Echeclus = 7 Li 07 r

Jupiter = 8 Sa 08 r Trine

____________________

Uranus = 11 Sa 22 r

Mars = 24 Ar 49 Semisquare

Urania = 10 Vi 51 Square

____________________

Neptune = 25 Ge 21 Semisquare

Urania = 10 Vi 51 Trine

____________________

Neptune = 25 Ge 21

Eris = 23 Pi 01 Square

Ixion = 22 Le 30 Sextile

AW197 = 9 Ta 47 Semisquare

Payne-Gaposchkin = 22 Ca 50 Semisextile

Astrometria = 22 Ca 00

____________________

Pluto = 15 Ge 33

OO67 = 13 Sc 23 r Quincunx

Nessus = 14 Pi 21 Square

Crantor = 14 Ca 25 Semisextile

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Astrological Setting (Sidereal - Fagan/Bradley)

RIYAL Thu May 10 1900 UT 12h00m00s Lat51n46 Lon0w46 SORT ALL

Planet	Longitude
GQ21	0Ge08
Chiron	0Sa41 r
SQ73	1Li19 r
Mars	1Ar28
Neptune	1Ge59
Bienor	2Vi06 r
DA62	2Cp25 r
TD10	2Li25 r
BL41	2Aq29
WL7	2Aq36
CY118	3Ta10
MS4	3Le31
GV9	3Ta47
CF119	3Ar54
XA255	4Pi05
Vertex	4Cp22
QB1	4Sc33 r
EL61	5Ge00
XR190	5Pi15
XZ255	5Sc19 r
Mercury	5Ar47
MW12	5Le48 r
Hylonome	5Cp59 r
CO1	6Ge06
QF6	6Li30 r
(Ascend)	6Le35
OM67	6Li35 r
Deucalion	6Ge35
KX14	6Ge49
Radamantus	7Pi15
PB112	7Sc16 r
CE10	7Vi17 r
Thereus	7Ar23
RD215	7Sc34 r
TY364	8Sc04 r
XX143	8Pi26
RN43	8Vi33 r
(Moon)	9Vi03
Huya	9Ta18
CO104	9Li21 r
TX300	9Li46 r
PJ30	10Ca48
CR105	10Pi50
UX25	10Sa50r
CC22	10Ar53
Venus	10Ge58
Saturn	11Sa08r
RP120	11Li17 r
RL43	12Ta06
Amycus	12Cp32r
Chaos	12Cp38r
Typhon	12Aq39
Quaoar	12Ca40
Pholus	13Ge02
HB57	13Ge20
SB60	13Vi35 r
TO66	13Li41 r
Echeclus	13Vi46 r
96PW	14Le35 r
DH5	14Le35 r
GZ32	14Li43 r
VQ94	14Pi44
Jupiter	14Sc46r
Sedna	14Pi59
RR43	15Sc13r
GB32	15Ge20
GM137	16Ar17
AW197	16Ar26
FP185	16Ta55
WN188	16Cp59r
RG33	17Ca36
Node	17Sc48r
VU2	17Sc58r
Uranus	18Sc00r
CZ118	18Ge18
OX3	18Vi28 r
Asbolus	18Ca29
BU48	18Sc38r
UR163	18Li45 r
RM43	18Sa49r
TL66	18Sa58r
OP32	19Le13 r
RZ215	19Vi19 r
OO67	20Li01 r
LE31	20Ar55
Nessus	21Aq00
Crantor	21Ge04
FZ173	21Ta05
RZ214	21Li15 r
PN34	21Ge22
Apogee	21Le33 r
Pluto	22Ta12
Teharonhi	22Vi34 r
KF77	22Aq35
SA278	22Cp46
AZ84	23Aq05
Logos	23Pi25
Elatus	23Sc36r
FZ53	24Sc35r
TC302	24Cp50
YQ179	25Pi06
QB243	25Ta18
Cyllarus	25Ca25
QD112	25Ca50
Pylenor	25Le54 r
Sun	26Ar00
FY9	26Ar03
(Midheav)	26Ar10
Varuna	26Cp13
Orcus	26Aq29
VS2	27Sc04r
PA44	27Pi07
Chariklo	27Cp10
VR130	27Ge53
Okyrhoe	28Aq09
UJ438	28Sa50r
Ixion	29Ca09
Ceto	29Aq27
Eris	29Aq40
Pelion	29Sc46r

Focused Minor Planets

Astronomia = 26 Ar 10

Venus = 10 Ge 58 Semisquare

Varuna = 26 Cp 13 Square

Orcus = 26 Aq 29 Sextile

VS2 = 27 Sc 04 r Quincunx

YQ179 = 25 Pi 06 Semisextile

____________________

Mercury = 5 Ar 47 Sextile

XR190 = 5 Pi 15 Square

QB1 = 4 Sc 33 r Quincunx

____________________

UX25 = 10 Sa 50 r

Saturn = 11 Sa 08 r

Venus = 10 Ge 58

Varuna = 26 Cp 13 Semisquare

CR105 = 10 Pi 50 Square

____________________

UX25 = 10 Sa 50 r Sextile

Saturn = 11 Sa 08 r

Venus = 10 Ge 58 Trine

Quaoar = 12 Ca 40 Quincunx

Echeclus = 13 Vi 46 r

TO66 = 13 Li 41 r Trine

Chaos = 12 Cp 38 r Semisextile

_____________________

Echeclus = 13 Vi 46 r

Jupiter = 14 Sc 46 r Trine

______________________

Uranus = 18 Sc 00 r

Mars = 1 Ar 28 Semisquare

Urania = 17 Le 30 Square

AW197 = 16 Ar 26

_____________________

AW197 = 16 Ar 26

Neptune = 1 Ge 59 Semisquare

Urania = 17 Le 30 Trine

_____________________

Neptune = 1 Ge 59

Eris = 29 Aq 40 Square

Ixion = 29 Ca 09 Sextile

AW197 = 16 Ar 26 Semisquare

Payne-Gaposchkin = 29 Ge 28 Semisextile

Astrometria = 28 Ge 39

______________________

Pluto = 22 Ta 12

OO67 = 20 Li 01 r Quincunx

Nessus = 21 Aq 00 Square

Crantor = 21 Ge 04 Semisextile

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Tentatively, for 2005 FY9:

- The Bravery and Adventure of a Mind exploring the Unknown

- Complete Belief in the Power of Human Reason and Logic

- Life-long sense of Inquiry and Adventure

- Powerfully curiosity-driven

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Posted to Centaurs (YahooGroups) on April 08, 2008

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