Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrating the contributions of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), who unfortunately remain underrepresented and undervalued in these fields (United Nations, 2024). Women are involved throughout MIST in a variety of different scientific, engineering and technological initiatives. In honor of the day, this blogpost will explore some of the major achievements in astrophysics of women throughout history.
Annie Jump Cannon was an American astronomer who developed the Harvard spectral system, which allows for the grouping of stars based on spectral characteristics (Alexander, 2020). She additionally manually classified 350,000 stars and was the first female recipient of the Henry Draper Medal of honor from the National Academy of Sciences due to her groundbreaking work. Similar to Annie, Henrietta Leavitt was a pioneer in her field. Her work allowed her to determine the chemical composition of stars, by relating spectra lines to physical conditions, and she was the first person to be awarded a PhD in astronomy (Fabbiano, 2020). Her discovery that stars are majorly composed of hydrogen and helium contradicted views at the time by prominent male astronomers, and her findings were unfortunately downplayed. We can now better appreciate her contributions to astrophysics and the wider scientific community.
Other notable female astrophysicists include Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Beth A. Brown and Barbara A. Williams. Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered pulsar stars while studying for her graduate degree at the University of Cambridge (Rumberg, 2022). She was one of the only female students involved on the project, with other women typically taking on administrative roles. Beth A. Brown became the first African-American woman to earn her doctorate in Astronomy from the University of Michigan, and helped inspire women and minorities to pursue careers in astrophysics (Kea, 2009). Before her untimely death, she held a position as the Assistant Director for Science Communications and Higher Education at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and she is mourned as a rising star in the field of Astrophysics. Barbara A. Williams also inspired women of racial minority in astrophysics when she became the first African American woman to earn her PhD in astronomy (Hislop, 2020). After completing her PhD she started working at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and does work on radio observations of compact galaxy groups.
All of these women made major contributions to astrophysics discovery and have helped shaped the wider STEM community as we know it today. The International Day of Women and Girls in Science was established to help celebrate these contributions, as we work toward a more equitable future.
References
Alexander, Kerri Lee, 2020. Annie Jump Cannon Biography. [online] Annie Jump Cannon Biography. Available at: <https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/annie-jump-cannon> [Accessed 4 February 2024].
Fabbiano, G., 2020. The woman who explained the stars. Nature, 578(7796), pp.509–510. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00509-3.
Hislop, Jessica May, 2020. 1981: Barbara Williams becomes the first Black woman to get a PhD… | astrobites. [online] Available at: <https://astrobites.org/2020/06/20/1981-barbara-williams-becomes-the-first-black-woman-to-get-a-phd/> [Accessed 4 February 2024].
Kea, Howard E., 2009. Women in Astronomy 2009 - A Tribute to Dr. Beth Brown. [online] Available at: <https://attic.gsfc.nasa.gov/wia2009/Dr_Beth_Brown_tribute.html> [Accessed 4 February 2024].
United Nations, 2024. International Day of Women and Girls in Science. [online] United Nations. Available at: <https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day> [Accessed 4 February 2024].
Rumberg, Anet, 2022. Jocelyn Bell Burnell – Discovered Pulsars. [online] Available at: <https://www.frontiersin.org/news/2022/09/22/children-in-science-jocelyn-bell-burnell-discovered-pulsars/>. [Accessed 4 February 2024].