Browse Projects

25% Complete

232 Total pages
15 Contributing members
Project PHaEDRA - Annie Jump Cannon - Annie Cannon Notebooks #175

At Harvard College Observatory (now the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), Women Astronomical Computers studied glass plate photographs of the night sky. Here they cataloged stars, identifying variables, interpreting stellar spectra, counting galaxies, and measuring the vast distances in space. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. In these books, follow the work of Annie Jump Cannon, who in 1901 devised a robust and elegant stellar classification scheme that astronomers still use today. Interested in historical women? Love astronomy? Help us transcribe the work of the Harvard Observatory's women computers and see which stars shine the brightest. PLEASE NOTE: The Project PHaEDRA Instructions for Women Computers Notebooks were heavily revised and republished on August 18, 2023. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the new instructions.

8% Complete

224 Total pages
7 Contributing members
Project PHaEDRA - Annie Jump Cannon - Annie Cannon Notebooks #176

At Harvard College Observatory (now the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), Women Astronomical Computers studied glass plate photographs of the night sky. Here they cataloged stars, identifying variables, interpreting stellar spectra, counting galaxies, and measuring the vast distances in space. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. In these books, follow the work of Annie Jump Cannon, who in 1901 devised a robust and elegant stellar classification scheme that astronomers still use today. Interested in historical women? Love astronomy? Help us transcribe the work of the Harvard Observatory's women computers and see which stars shine the brightest. PLEASE NOTE: The Project PHaEDRA Instructions for Women Computers Notebooks were heavily revised and republished on August 18, 2023. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with these instructions.

98% Complete

226 Total pages
127 Contributing members
Project PHaEDRA - Annie Jump Cannon - Annie Cannon Notebooks #181

At Harvard College Observatory (now the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), Women Astronomical Computers studied glass plate photographs of the night sky. Here they cataloged stars, identifying variables, interpreting stellar spectra, counting galaxies, and measuring the vast distances in space. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. In these books, follow the work of Annie Jump Cannon, who in 1901 devised a robust and elegant stellar classification scheme that astronomers still use today. Interested in historical women? Love astronomy? Help us transcribe the work of the Harvard Observatory's women computers and see which stars shine the brightest. PLEASE NOTE: The Project PHaEDRA Instructions for Women Computers Notebooks were heavily revised and republished on August 18, 2023. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the new instructions.

14% Complete

110 Total pages
71 Contributing members
Project PHaEDRA - Harvard College Observatory - General Catalog Observations and Reductions (phaedra0418)

At Harvard College Observatory (now the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian), astronomers took photographs of space using telescopes; discovering satellites and researching stars, planets, and eclipses. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. This notebook has been bumped up in the queue due to a special request from researchers at the Center for Astrophysics. They are interested in studying variable stars that change brightness over decade-long timescales. Though dense, this notebook captures the final reduced data of stellar brightnesses observed in the 1870s, information that can be used to extend the modern record. These reduced data are particularly useful to them because historical observations can be difficult to calibrate using the information available at the present day. Interested in the history of science? Love astronomy? Help us transcribe the work of the Harvard Observatory's women computers and early astronomers and see which stars shine the brightest. PLEASE NOTE: The Project PHaEDRA Instructions for Women Computers Notebooks were heavily revised and republished on August 18, 2023. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with these instructions. Dr. Caroline Huang from the Center for Astrophysics presented on how she has used PHaEDRA volumes for her research and how she thinks this volume will be useful to astronomers.

81% Complete

160 Total pages
118 Contributing members
Project PHaEDRA - Muriel & Sylvia Mussells - South Polar Cap Magnitudes, W. #G68

At Harvard College Observatory (now the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian), Women Astronomical Computers studied glass plate photographs of the night sky. Here they cataloged stars, identified variables, interpreted stellar spectra, counted galaxies, and measured the vast distances in space. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. In these books, you can follow the work of Sylvia and Muriel Mussells, two sisters who worked at the Harvard College Observatory in the 1920s and 1930s. Muriel Mussells discovered three new ring nebulae in the Milky Way and Sylvia Mussells discovered the first dwarf galaxy. You can help us find out what else we can learn about them and their work! PLEASE NOTE: The Project PHaEDRA Instructions for Women Computers Notebooks were heavily revised and republished on August 18, 2023. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with these instructions.

23% Complete

94 Total pages
51 Contributing members
Project PHaEDRA - William A. Rogers - Fundamental Star Observations and Reductions, Final Values (phaedra0419)

At Harvard College Observatory (now the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian), astronomers took photographs of space using telescopes; discovering satellites and researching stars, planets, and eclipses. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. This notebook from William A. Rogers has been bumped up in the queue due to a special request from researchers at the Center for Astrophysics. They are interested in studying variable stars that change brightness over decade-long timescales. Though dense, this notebook captures the final reduced data of stellar brightnesses observed in the 1870s, information that can be used to extend the modern record. These reduced data are particularly useful to them because historical observations can be difficult to calibrate using the information available at the present day. Interested in the history of science? Love astronomy? Help us transcribe the work of the Harvard Observatory's women computers and early astronomers and see which stars shine the brightest. PLEASE NOTE: The Project PHaEDRA Instructions for Women Computers Notebooks were heavily revised and republished on August 18, 2023. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with these instructions. Dr. Caroline Huang from the Center for Astrophysics presented on how she has used PHaEDRA volumes for her research and how she thinks this volume will be useful to astronomers.

50% Complete

34 Total pages
11 Contributing members
Project PHaEDRA - Williamina P. Fleming - Miscellaneous (Ecl, Solar, Etc) #49

At Harvard College Observatory (now the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian), women computers studied glass plate photographs of the night sky. Here they catalogued stars, identifying variables, interpreting stellar spectra, counting galaxies, and measuring the vast distances in space. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. In these books, follow the work of Williamina Fleming who discovered over 310 variable stars as well as discovering the first white dwarf. Interested in historical women? Love astronomy? Help us transcribe the work of the Harvard Observatory's women computers and see which stars shine the brightest.  PLEASE NOTE: The Project PHaEDRA Instructions for Women Computers Notebooks were heavily revised and republished on August 18, 2023. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with these instructions.