Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
FRAS
Born
Cecilia Helena Payne

(1900-05-10)May 10, 1900
Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England
DiedDecember 7, 1979(1979-12-07) (aged 79)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
CitizenshipBritish
United States (from 1931)
EducationSt Paul's Girls' School
Alma materNewnham College, Cambridge;
Harvard University
Known forExplanation of stellar spectra and composition of the Sun, more than 3,000,000 observations of variable stars
Spouse
Sergei I. Gaposchkin
​
​
(m. 1934)​
Children3
AwardsAnnie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy (1934), Rittenhouse Medal (1961), Award of Merit from Radcliffe College (1952), Henry Norris Russell Prize (1976)
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy, astrophysics
InstitutionsHarvard College Observatory, Harvard University
ThesisStellar Atmospheres: A contribution to the observational study of high temperature in the reversing layers of stars (1925)
Doctoral advisorHarlow Shapley
Doctoral studentsHelen Sawyer Hogg, Joseph Ashbrook, Frank Kameny, Frank Drake, Paul W. Hodge
Signature

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (born Cecilia Helena Payne; (1900-05-10)May 10, 1900 – (1979-12-07)December 7, 1979) was a British-American astronomer and astrophysicist. In her 1925 doctoral thesis she proposed that stars were composed primarily of hydrogen and helium.[1] 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. Her work on the nature of variable stars was foundational to modern astrophysics.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference cwp-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Joyce, Maureen (December 9, 1979). "Dr. Cecilia H. Payne-Gaposchkin Dies". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  3. ^ "Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin". HowStuffWorks. April 23, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2016.