Stars and Clusters

Born in England, Cecilia Payne-Gaposhkin earned an undergraduate degree from Cambridge University and came to the Harvard College Observatory in 1923, remaining at Harvard for the rest of her scientific career. She was one of the first to analyze the spectra of stars in a quantitative way, by precisely measuring their temperature and chemical composition. Payne-Gaposhkin's radical proposal that the stars are mostly hydrogen eventually was supported. Her attention then turned or rather, was directed to variable stars. Payne-Gaposhkin's gender hindered her professional progress throughout her career; Cambridge University was unwilling to grant a Ph.D. to a woman, and at Harvard, she was strictly a researcher until the university appointed her in 1956 as the first female full professor. She ultimately became chair of the astronomy department at Harvard, as well as Phillips Professor of Astronomy Emerita until her death. Although most of her published work is rather technical, Payne-Gaposhkin occasionally wrote and lectured for popular audiences.

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