Annie Jump Cannon, the 'Harvard Computer' that Revolutionized Astronomy - by PaulMattSutter
Around the same time many astronomers began to come up with classification systems. However, they did not have a lot of data to work with. All they really had was the star’s position in the sky, its observed brightness, maybe its distance if they were lucky, and its spectrum, which was a breakdown of the components of all the light emitted by that star.
As a part of this effort Edward Pickering at the Harvard Observatory began an extensive and exhaustive data collection process. He harvested observations of hundreds of thousands of stars and planned to publish them in a massive catalog. The existence of that catalog demanded a sane classification scheme, which meant that all of the stellar spectra had to be examined by hand and categorized.
But in that task she excelled. Over the course of her long career she manually categorized over 350,000 stars. And that intimate access to the data gave her insights that nobody else could match. She started with an existing classification scheme, which ran from the letters A to O based on the strength of the appearance of various spectral lines.
And so Cannon proposed a brand new classification scheme, which remains the basis of the classification scheme used in modern astronomy today. What’s amazing about this is that not only did Cannon get it right, she got it right before we understood what this classification scheme meant. Once she hit upon the correct ordering of stellar categories, other astronomers were able to piece together the story of stellar evolution and the relationship between star size, brightness, and color. We now understand much more about stars than we used to, and we have Annie Jump Cannon’s genius insights to thank for it.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
How to Force Judge Aileen Cannon Off the Trump CaseUltimately, Judge Cannon should do the ethical thing and recuse herself. If she chooses not to, she should be removed.
Read more »
Aileen Cannon recusal calls grow over the Florida judge taking Trump's caseMore legal experts have said the judge appointed to the bench by the former president should leave classified documents proceedings due to past rulings.
Read more »
Was Mar-a-Lago case judge Aileen Cannon pictured wearing 'Team Trump' hat?The judge has been described as 'pro-Trump' by some of the former president's opponents, but did a photo show her sporting MAGA 'bling'?
Read more »
Nick Cannon roasts ‘fat’ 50 Cent: ‘Get thick or die frying’The “Wild ’N Out” host was reacting to a recent interview in which 50 Cent’s ex-girlfriend Vivica A. Fox said she would be open to dating the rapper again.
Read more »
Dear Annie: Hoarding ruined my marriageMy wife's relationship with me has been put in a box and stored somewhere in the garage.
Read more »
Nick Cannon calls 50 Cent ‘fat’: ‘It’s get thick or die frying’“He look like he got a pack of hot dogs on the back of his neck,” he said.
Read more »