Transcript Annie Jump Cannon

SPOTLIGHT
ON
"Census Taker of the Sky"
She was born in Dover, Delaware. Her father,
Wilson Cannon, was a Delaware shipbuilder and
state senator.
 Her mother taught her the constellations and
stimulated her interest in astronomy.
 She was nearly deaf throughout her career.
 Cannon studied physics and astronomy at
Wellesley College in Massachusetts, one of the
top academic schools for women in the U.S.
where she graduated as valedictorian. She
continued her studies at Radcliffe.
 When she finished her studies at Radcliffe, she
got a job at the Harvard Observatory, working for
the renowned Edward C. Pickering.
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It was there that she developed her system for classifying
stars. She combined two known models to create her own
spectral division, the simplified classes O, B, A, F, G, K, M. The
system was adopted as the universal standard and given the
mnemonic device "Oh, Be A Fine Girl--Kiss Me!" which is still
used today.
During her time at Harvard, she cataloged 225,300 stars and
discovered 300 variable stars, in addition to 5 novae, a class of
exploding stars.
Her work was published in the Henry Draper Catalogue over
the course of nine volumes between 1881 and 1924.
Cannon and Pickering are credited with developing the Harvard
Classification System.
Under Pickering, Cannon and a group of other revolutionary
women became known as the “Harvard Observatory
computers.”
Oh Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me
Kelvin - unit of measure for temperature
based upon an absolute scale.
Our Sun is class G
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In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of
stars based on their spectral characteristics.
Light from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism
or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the
rainbow of colors interspersed with absorption lines.
Each line indicates an ion of a certain chemical element,
with the line strength indicating the abundance of that
ion.
The relative abundance of the different ions varies with
the temperature of the photosphere.
The spectral class of a star is a short code summarizing
the ionization state, giving an objective measure of the
photosphere's temperature and density.
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1921 - honorary doctorate from the University of
Groningen, the Netherlands
1925 - first woman recipient of an honorary doctorate from
Oxford University
1929 - on the front page of Scientific American
1929 - listed as one of twelve "greatest living women" from
the National League of Women Voters
1931, received the Henry Draper Gold Medal of the
National Academy of Sciences.
1932, won the Ellen Richards prize from the Association to
Aid Scientific Research by Woman
1935 - honorary degree from Oglethorpe University
First woman elected as officer of the American
Astronomical Society
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The Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy is awarded
annually since 1934 to a woman astronomer in North
America
The lunar crater Cannon is named after her.
The asteroid 1120 Cannonia is named after her.
Cannon Hall, a residence dormitory at the University of
Delaware, named in her honor
Named Curator of Astronomical Photographs at Harvard
Member of the Royal Astronomical Society in Europe
Honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa at Wellesley College
Charter member of the Maria Mitchell Association