Project PHaEDRA - at Maria Mitchell Observatory - Measurements at Maria Mitchell

About the Project

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. For Women's History Month, Project PHaEDRA is focusing on the notebooks of women who made observations at the Maria Mitchell Observatory while associated with Harvard. The Maria Mitchell Observatory is located in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and was so named in 1908 after the first well-known American woman astronomer. Two of the Women Astronomical Computers served as the first directors of the Observatory after their time at Harvard; Margaret Harwood (1912-1957) and Dorrit Hoffleit (1957-1978). We are interested in the work that the Women Astronomical Computers were doing at the Maria Mitchell Observatory, and how this space may have furthered their careers and allowed them to work alongside and beneath the authority of other women.

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Completed!

Project Progress (details)
188 pages completed
Difficulty
5 out of 5
(details)

88

Contributing
members

188

Total
pages