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History of astronomy - Modern astronomy

History of astronomy - Modern astronomy: Encyclopedia II - History of astronomy - Modern astronomy

At the end of the 19th century it was discovered that, when decomposing the light from the sun, a multitude of spectral lines were observed (regions where there was less or no light). Experiments with hot gases showed that the same lines could be observed in the spectra of gases, specific lines corresponding to unique elements. It was proved that the chemical elements found in the sun (chiefly hydrogen and helium) were also found on Earth. During the 20th century spectrometry (the study of these lines) advanced, especially because of the advent of quantum ph ...

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History of astronomy, History of astronomy - Ancient history, History of astronomy - India, History of astronomy - Mesopotamia, History of astronomy - Sumer, History of astronomy - Chaldea Babylonia, History of astronomy - Mesoamerica, History of astronomy - Maya civilization, History of astronomy - East Asia, History of astronomy - China, History of astronomy - Ancient Greece, History of astronomy - Middle ages, History of astronomy - The Copernican revolution, History of astronomy - Physics marries astronomy, History of astronomy - Modern astronomy, History of astronomy - Cosmology and the expansion of the universe, History of astronomy - New windows into the Cosmos open

History of astronomy, History of astronomy - Ancient Greece, History of astronomy - Ancient history, History of astronomy - Chaldea Babylonia, History of astronomy - China, History of astronomy - Cosmology and the expansion of the universe, History of astronomy - East Asia, History of astronomy - India, History of astronomy - Maya civilization, History of astronomy - Mesoamerica, History of astronomy - Mesopotamia, History of astronomy - Middle ages, History of astronomy - Modern astronomy, History of astronomy - New windows into the Cosmos open, History of astronomy - Physics marries astronomy, History of astronomy - Sumer, History of astronomy - The Copernican revolution, Astronomy historian, Archaeoastronomy, History of astronomical interferometry

History of astronomy: Encyclopedia II - History of astronomy - Modern astronomy

History of astronomy - Modern astronomy

At the end of the 19th century it was discovered that, when decomposing the light from the sun, a multitude of spectral lines were observed (regions where there was less or no light). Experiments with hot gases showed that the same lines could be observed in the spectra of gases, specific lines corresponding to unique elements. It was proved that the chemical elements found in the sun (chiefly hydrogen and helium) were also found on Earth. During the 20th century spectrometry (the study of these lines) advanced, especially because of the advent of quantum physics, that was necessary to understand the observations.

Although in previous centuries noted astronomers were exclusively male, at the turn of the 20th century women began to play a role in the great discoveries. In this period prior to modern computers, women at the United States Naval Observatory (USNO), Harvard University, and other astronomy research institutions often served as human "computers," whom performed the tedious calculations while scientists performed research requiring more background knowledge. [2] (It is worth noting that the word for modern electronic computers comes from this use of humans, as the "-er" ending typically refers to humans performing a task, while "-or" refers to machines.) Many of the discoveries in this period were originally noted by the women "computers" and reported to their supervisors. For example, Henrietta Swan Leavitt discovered the cepheid variable star period-luminosity relation, Annie Jump Cannon organized the stellar spectral types according to stellar temperature, and Maria Mitchell was the first person to discover a comet using a telescope. (See [3] for more women astronomers.) Some of these women received little or no recognition during their lives due to their lower professional standing in the field of astronomy. And although their discoveries are taught in classrooms around the world, few students of astronomy can attribute the works to their authors.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Modern astronomy", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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