Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
AAAS Thousand Dollar Prize, 97, 144n
Aberdeen Proving Ground, 114
“absorption” lines, 103
adaptive optics, 122
Alexandria, 46–47
Allegheny Observatory, 92
Alpha Centauri, 52
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 26
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 96–97
American Astronomical Society, 96–97, 137n
American Missionary Society, 35–36
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 26
Andover Theological Seminary, 26
Andromeda:
blueshift of, 103
Cepheid variables in, 94–95, 101, 107, 109–10, 113, 115–16
distance of, 7, 68, 78, 101, 103, 109–10, 113, 122
size of, 68, 122–23
as spiral galaxy, 59, 60, 78
star types in, 104–5
Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College, 38, 57
ants, 62–63, 69
Aquila, 90
arcs, 47, 48, 52, 68, 116, 123–24
Arequipa, Peru, observing station, 17–18, 35, 37, 92
Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of America, 38
Astronomische Nachrichten, 55
astronomy:
bias in, 57, 60, 79, 80–81, 97–100, 109, 113, 125
discoveries in, 35–36, 38–39, 55–56, 96–98
measurement in, 8, 14–16, 18, 38–40, 43–44, 53–58, 60, 62, 65, 68, 72, 74, 79, 80–81, 85, 88, 92–94, 97–100, 102, 107, 114–15, 121–22, 130
published results in, 18, 30, 31, 37, 38, 39–40, 42, 43, 55, 56, 57–58, 64, 96, 97, 106
theoretical basis of, 5–6, 62–81, 94–95, 107–13, 130
Astrophysical Journal, 64
atmospheric distortion, 112, 122
atoms, 102–3
Baade, Walter, 114–15, 116
Bailey, Solon I., 17, 28, 56, 119–20
Barnard, Edward Emerson, 95–96, 144n
Barnard’s Galaxy, 95–96
Barnard’s star, 144n
baseline measurements, 45–55, 51, 99–102
Beloit College, 30, 32, 42
Beta Lyrae, 88
Bible, 12, 36, 99
big bang theory, 16, 108, 110–11, 115, 116, 120, 126, 129
Big Dipper, 6
Big Galaxy theory, 62–81, 82, 84, 94–95, 109–10, 111, 112–13, 115, 119, 138n, 143n
binary stars, 64
black ants, 62–63
black holes, 16, 129
blink comparator, 68, 95–96, 107
blueshift, 60–61, 64, 102–3
blue stars, 74–75, 77
Bond, George, 134n
Bond, William Cranch, 134n
Boötes, 6
Boston Water Works, 26
Brazil, 34
Brookhaven National Laboratory, 19
Bruce, Catherine Wolfe, 17
Bruce Telescope, 17–18, 67
Bryan, William Jennings, 100
B-type stars, 74–75
Bulletin of the National Research Council, 79
Bunsen, Robert, 102–3
Burroughs Arithometer, 9
calcium, 105
Cambridge Cemetery, 89–90
candles, standard, 61, 64, 65–66, 74, 78, 95, 100–101, 121, 124, 125
Cannon, Annie Jump, 20, 41–42, 86–89, 92, 118, 142n, 146n–47n
Cape of Good Hope, 34, 52
Cassini, Gian Domenico, 138n
census (1880), 25–26
“Cepheids in Spiral Nebulae” (Hubble), 97
Cepheid variables:
in Andromeda, 94–95, 101, 107, 109–10, 113, 115–16
chemical composition of, 114–15, 124
as distance scale, 53–55, 101–2, 113–16, 123–24
Hubble’s use of, xiii–xiv, 94–98, 100, 120
Leavitt’s analysis of, xiii–xiv, 43–44, 53–55, 56, 62, 64, 66–67, 72, 76, 88, 94–96, 101, 102, 120
in Magellanic Clouds, 43–44, 53–55, 64, 67, 85
as measurement standard, 43–44, 53–55, 62, 65, 68, 72, 74, 102, 107
period-luminosity relationship in, 43, 64–65, 85, 94, 96, 113, 114–15, 119, 124, 138n
Shapley’s use of, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 72, 74, 75, 76, 85, 94, 109–10, 113
Cepheus, 44
Cerro Tololo Observatory, 12
Christian fundamentalists, 12, 99
Clerke, Agnes, 60
Cleveland, L. R., 144n
cluster variables, 64–65, 115, 124
Columba, 54
comets, 144n
Commission of Stellar Photometry, 90–91
Commonwealth, S.S., 33
computers (clerical workers):
data collected by, 9–10, 18–19, 55–56, 90–92, 105
Leavitt as example of, xiii, 9, 22, 23–33, 36, 37, 39–42, 52, 55–58, 59, 66–67, 88, 90–92, 119–20
status of, 86–88
viewing instruments used by, 23–24, 35, 41, 58
wages of, 9, 18–21, 31–32, 134n
women as, 19–22, 86–88
constellations, 6, 54
see also specific constellations
Copernicus, Nicolaus, 48, 54, 107–8
cosmic dust, 78–79, 111–13
cosmological constant, 148n
cotton mill workers, 9
“creation science,” 99–100, 118
Crick, Francis, 38
Curtis, Heber, 61, 70–81, 77, 92, 98, 113, 115, 120–22, 140n–41n
Cygnus, 29
Dante, 121
dark matter, 16
Darrow, Clarence, 100
Darwin, Charles, 26
Darwin, Erasmus, 26
Day of Reckoning, 12
degrees, 47, 48, 52, 68, 116, 123–24
depth perception, 45
Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 31
displacement, 45–49
Divine Comedy, The (Dante), 121
DNA, 38
Doppler effect, 60–61, 65, 102–7, 125, 139n
Draper, Henry, 20, 87
dwarf galaxies, 123
Earth:
age of, 111
diameter of, 99, 101
orbit of, 48, 50–51, 51, 53–54, 99–100, 101, 116
position of, 69, 107–8, 125–26
eclipses, 15, 29, 46–47, 64
eclipsing binaries, 64
Eddington, Arthur, 62
Einstein, Albert, 6, 71, 73, 98, 107–8, 130, 141n
electromagnetic waves, 5
electronic computers, 9, 122
electronic sensors, 9
electrons, 102–3
emulsion, photographic, 10, 28–29
Eridanus Cluster, 123
European Space Agency, 123
evolution, 99–100
extra-galactic nebulae, 109
extrapolation, 1–5, 8, 80–81, 116, 127–28, 133n
False Cepheids, 95
Felt & Tarrant Comptometer, 9
Fernie, J. D., 109, 113
Fleming, Edward Pickering, 20
Fleming, Williamina Paton, 19–21, 33, 87
“fly spankers,” 29
Fornax Cluster, 7, 123
Fraunhofer, Joseph von, 103
frequencies, wave, 60–61, 101–7, 129
Frohman, Charles, 37
fundamentalism, religious, 99–100, 118
galactic plane, 78, 112
galaxies:
average luminosity of, 100–102
clusters of, 7, 118, 123, 125
distance of, 7, 34, 51–52, 61, 96, 99–101, 103–8, 112–16, 121–22
evolution of, 93
groups of, 7–8, 11, 34–35, 77, 118, 122–23, 125
as nebulae, 11–12, 51–52, 59–62, 68–69, 70, 75–76, 95–98
number of, 122–23
rotation of, 68–69, 84, 92–94, 97–98, 125, 143n
size of, 55, 109–10, 123
superclusters of, 7–8, 123
velocity of, 102–7, 116
see also nebulae
Galileo Galilei, 15, 17, 51, 52, 54
gas clouds, 8, 12, 51–52, 59, 60, 68, 76, 78, 80
Genesis, Book of, 99
genetics, 38
Gilbert, W. S., 21
globular clusters, 63–66, 69, 74, 77, 85, 111, 113, 114, 119, 146n
God, 12, 36, 69, 100, 118
Goodricke, John, 44
gravitational lensing, 130
gravity, 61, 93, 129, 130
Great Debate (1920), 70–81, 86, 98, 113, 115, 120–22, 133n, 140n–41n
Great Refractor telescope, 12–14, 13, 134n
Greece, ancient, 17, 46–48, 54, 124
Hale, George Ellery, 69, 70–71, 85
Hale telescope, 115
Halley, Edmond, 49–50
Hardy, Thomas, ix, 117
Harvard College Observatory Circular, 39–40, 43
Harvard Number 1354, 37
Harvard Number 1391, 37
Harvard Number 1509, 37
Harvard Observatory:
Arequipa observing station of, 17–18, 35, 37, 92
budget of, 9, 18–21, 31–32, 134n
computers for, see computers
construction of, 12–14
Great Refractor telescope of, 12–14, 13, 134n
Leavitt as computer for, xiii, 9, 22, 23–33, 36, 52, 55–58, 66, 88, 90–92, 119–20
Pickering as director of, 15–21, 73, 86–87, 88, 91–92
repository of, 10–11, 20, 117
Shapley as director of, 72–73, 82, 85–86, 107
Harwood, Margaret, 66
Heinlein, Robert, 5–6
helium, 103, 104
Hellespont, 46
Henry Draper Catalogue, 20, 86
Hercules, 54, 75
herd instinct, 62–63, 109, 113
Herschel, Caroline, 51
Herschel, John, 34, 35–36, 52
Herschel, William, 51–52, 54, 59
Hertzsprung, Ejnar, 45, 55, 56, 62, 66, 74, 138n
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, 74
High-Precision Parallax Collecting Satellite (Hipparcos), 123–24
Hipparchus, 46–47, 124
H.M.S. Pinafore (Gilbert and Sullivan), 21
Hubble, Edwin:
as astronomer, 96–97, 98, 107–8, 121, 130
background of, 82–84
Cepheid standard used by, xiii–xiv, 94–98, 100, 120
death of, 115
at Mount Wilson Observatory, 84, 95–97, 104–7, 114
period-luminosity law used by, xiii–xiv, 94–96, 120
personality of, 83–84, 94, 109
photograph of, 83
publications of, 96, 97, 106
redshift investigated by (Hubble shift), 103–8, 110, 115–16, 125
reputation of, 96–97, 98, 104, 107–8, 144n
research of, 94–96, 97, 106, 121, 122, 130
Shapley’s relationship with, 82, 84, 95–98, 107, 109, 116, 142n
universe as measured by, 109–11
Hubble Atlas of Galaxies, 121
Hubble constant (K term), 103–8, 116, 120–21, 123, 124, 129, 130, 147n
“Hubble Meters,” 121
Hubble shift, 103–8, 110, 115–16, 125
Hubble Space Telescope, 98, 122, 123
“Hubble Wars,” 121
Humason, Milton, 104–5, 106, 107
hydrogen, 103, 104
Hyperion, 134n
International Astronomical Union, 90–91
Internet, 117–18, 147n
interstellar dust, 78–79
inverse square law, 44, 50, 53, 61, 65, 74, 101, 115
“island universes,” 12, 59–62, 68, 71, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 92–98, 109, 110, 124, 143n
Ivernia, H.M.S., 36
James, Henry, 90
James, William, 90
Jeans, James, 62, 93, 143n
Jesus Christ, 12
Kant, Immanuel, 59
Kapteyn, Jacobus, 63, 68, 84
Kapteyn universe, 63
Keck telescope, 122
Kendrick, Mary, 25
Kennedy, John F., 7
Kepler, Johannes, 48, 50
Kirchhoff, Gustav, 102–3
Kowalewsky, Sonja, 118–19
K term (Hubble constant), 103–8, 116, 120–21, 123, 124, 129, 130, 147n
lamplight, 16
Laplace, Pierre-Simon, 59
Leavitt, Caroline, 25
Leavitt, Darwin, 25, 39
Leavitt, Erasmus Darwin (grandfather), 25–26
Leavitt, Erasmus Darwin (uncle), 26, 27, 33, 37–38, 42, 66, 89
Leavitt, George, 25, 33, 39
Leavitt, George Roswell, 25, 26, 35–36, 42, 137n
Leavitt, Henrietta Swan:
as astronomer, 27, 30–33, 55–58, 88, 90–92, 104, 118–22
background of, 25–28
biographical information on, xiii–xiv, 25–28, 30–33, 90, 117, 120, 147n
in Cambridge, Mass., 25–28, 32–33, 36, 37–38, 39, 41–42, 66, 85, 88–89, 120, 140n, 142n
in Cleveland, Ohio, 26, 28
as computer, xiii, 9, 22, 23–33, 36, 37, 39–42, 52, 55–58, 59, 66–67, 88, 90–92, 119–20
correspondence of, xiii, 22, 23, 30–33, 39–42, 88, 120
deafness of, 23, 28, 31, 32, 33, 44, 86, 136n, 137n
death of, 22, 28, 82, 89–92, 117, 118–20
desk of, 91, 117
education of, 25, 26–27, 28, 31
Europe visited by, 30, 33, 36
as female scientist, xiii–xiv, 23–25, 27, 88, 118
finances of, 31–32, 90
“ghost” of, 117
grave site of, 89–90
illnesses of, 31–33, 39, 56, 88–89
Internet planetarium named after, 117–18, 147n
last will of, 90
lunar crater named after, 118
magnitude studied by, 28–30, 39–44
on Nantucket Island, 66
Nobel Prize nomination for, 118–19
notebook of, 9–10, 29, 56–57, 135n–36n
obituary of, 28
personality of, 28, 56
photographs of, 23, 24
physical appearance of, 23–24
press coverage of, 37
progress reports of, 38, 42
publications of, 30, 31, 37, 38, 39–40, 42, 43, 56, 57–58
in Beloit, Wisc., 30–33, 36, 39–42
religious affiliation of, 25, 28, 118
reputation of, xiii–xiv, 28, 34, 37, 104, 117–20
scientific research of, xiii–xiv, 30–33, 36–44, 55–58, 85, 86, 90–96, 118–20, 124
Shapley’s views on, 59, 66–67, 119–20
variable stars studied by, 29–30, 34–39, 40, 42–44, 53–55, 62, 75, 76, 85, 91–92, 113, 116, 119–20
viewing instruments used by, 23–24, 35, 41, 58
as volunteer, 25, 27–33
wages of, 9, 31–32
Leavitt, Henrietta Swan Kendrick, 25, 42, 57, 85, 90, 142n
Leavitt, Josiah, 25
Leavitt, Martha, 25
Leavitt, Mira, 25, 89
Leavitt, Roswell, 25, 89
Leavitt pumping engine, 26
Lick Observatory, 61, 92, 111
light:
absence of, 16, 129
curvature of, 90, 130
gravity and, 130
pollution from, 12, 112, 122
speed of, 5–6, 7, 44, 69, 74, 116
“tired,” 104, 108, 129
waves of, 60–61, 101–7, 129
light-years, 7, 74, 116
linear relationships, 105–6
Liometopum apiculatum, 62–63
“Local Group” galaxies, 7, 122–23
Longy School of Music, 38
Lowell, Abbott Lawrence, 85–86
Lowell Observatory, 60
lunar parallax, 46–47, 47, 48
Lundmark, Knut, 92–94, 97
M33 (Triangulum) galaxy, 92–93, 94, 114, 123
MacCormack, Miss, 105
Maffei Group, 7
Magellan, Ferdinand, 34
Magellanic Clouds:
as galaxies, 11, 34–35, 55, 123
Large, 34, 85, 92
photograph of, 35
Small, 34, 36–37, 53, 55, 85, 118
variable stars in, 35–39, 40, 43–44, 53–55, 56, 64, 66–67, 76, 85, 92, 95, 96, 100, 113, 119
magnitude:
apparent, 11, 14–18, 28–30, 38–44, 56, 58, 106, 111, 119
average, 92, 101–2, 125
fifteenth, 37, 75, 134n
fifth, 14–15
first, 14–15
fourteenth, 15, 134n
intrinsic, 11, 43–44, 45, 50, 53, 55, 58, 74, 100–101, 111, 113, 116, 119, 125, 139n
measurement of, 14–18, 39–40, 56–58, 114–15
period and, 38–39, 43, 59, 64, 85, 94, 96, 113, 114–15, 119, 124, 138n
range of, 14–15, 65
sixteenth, 58
sixth, 14
temperature and, 74–75
tenth, 58
Mallon, Thomas, ix
Malmquist bias, 125
March Comet (1843), 12
Maria Mitchell Observatory, 66
Mars, 18, 48–49, 138n
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 15
Mauna Kea Observatory, 12, 122
Maury, Antonia Caetana, 20, 87
Merz and Mahler, 14
Messier, Charles, 92
Milky Way:
center of, 63, 69, 107–8
cosmic dust in, 78–79, 111–13
galactic plane of, 78, 112
as galaxy, 34–35, 76–79, 99–100, 109, 122–23
gas clouds in, 8, 12, 51–52, 59, 60, 68, 76, 78, 80
globular clusters in, 63–66, 69, 74, 77, 85, 111, 113, 114, 119, 146n
gravitational field of, 61
Great Debate on (1920), 70–81, 86, 98, 115, 120–22, 133n, 140n–41n
measurement of, 62–81, 82, 84, 94–95, 109–10, 111, 112–13, 115, 119, 138n, 143n
neighboring galaxies of, 11, 34–35, 77, 122–23, 125
open clusters in, 111–12
poles of, 78
shape of, 60, 62, 63, 63–64
size of, xiii, 7, 8, 54, 62–81, 82, 94–95, 98, 109–13, 115, 119, 138n, 143n
sun’s position in, 11, 54, 63, 69, 75, 99, 110
as universe, xiii, 8, 59–62, 69, 70, 84, 92–96, 98
“zone of avoidance” in, 78–80
see also universe
Millerites, 12
Miras, 124
Mittag-Leffler, Gösta, 118–19
“Monkey Trial” (1925), 99–100
moon:
craters on, 118
distance to, 46–47, 47, 48, 124, 130
exploration of, 7
Mount Harvard, 17
Mount Palomar Observatory, 12, 115, 122, 128
Mount Wilson Observatory, 12, 17, 41, 56, 62–63, 64–67, 68, 69, 84, 95–97, 101, 104–7, 114
National Academy of Sciences, 70–81, 141n
Nazism, 73
nebulae:
chemical composition of, 60, 78, 103
distance of, 59–62, 101–2, 109
extra-galactic, 109
as galaxies, 11–12, 51–52, 59–62, 68–69, 70, 75–76, 95–98
as gas clouds, 8, 12, 51–52, 59, 60, 68, 76, 78, 80
as “island universes,” 12, 59–62, 68, 71, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 92–98, 109, 110, 124, 143n
novae in, 61, 68, 78, 94, 124–25
number of, 59–60
photographs of, 20, 59–60
pinwheel, 68–69, 92, 97–98
rotation of, 68–69, 84, 92–94, 97–98, 125, 143n
size of, 75–76
spectra of, 60, 70, 78, 102–8
spiral, 59, 60, 61, 68–69, 75–76, 78–79, 80, 84, 92–94, 97–98, 114, 125, 143n
as star matter, 59, 60, 61, 78–80
velocity of, 60–61, 84, 92, 102–7
whirlpool, 68, 97–98
see also galaxies
New General Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters (NGC), 61, 95
Newton, Isaac, 93
New York Herald, 18
NGC 6822, 95–96
NGC 6946, 61
NGC 7619, 105–6
Nobel Prize, 118–19
“noncosmological” events, 129–30
North Polar Sequence, 39–42, 56–58,
90, 91–92
North Star, 16, 29, 53, 124
novae:
brightness of, 61, 124–25, 139n
discovery of, 94–96
light curves of, 90
in nebulae, 61, 68, 78, 94, 124–25
super-, 124–25
“O Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me” mnemonic, 86
Oberlin College, 26, 28
observation points, 45–50
Observatory Hill, 10, 12–13, 38, 117
Observatory Pinafore, The, 9, 21–22, 22
“On Running in Trails” (Shapley), 62–63
“On the Motions of Spirals” (Lundmark), 93
open clusters, 111–12
optical illusions, 111–12, 115, 130
optical interferometer, 122
O’Reilly, Miss, 56
Orion, 6, 17
Oxford University, 83
parallax, 2, 45–49, 51, 53–55, 65, 80–81, 116, 123–24, 138n, 145n
parsecs, 116
Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia, 87–88, 91–92, 94–96, 98, 119
“peculiar motions,” 125
Peirce, Charles Sanders, 16
pendulum clocks, 48
period-luminosity law, 50–55
Cepheid variables in, xiii–xiv, 43–44, 53–55, 56, 62, 64, 66–67, 72, 76, 88, 94–96, 101, 102, 120
distance measured by, 54–55, 66–67, 76, 101–2, 119, 124
Hubble’s use of, xiii–xiv, 94–96, 120
implications of, 50–55, 67, 116, 118–20
Leavitt’s analysis of, xiv, 11, 44, 45, 66–67, 118–20, 138n
period-luminosity relationship in, 38–39, 43, 59, 64–67, 76, 85, 94, 96, 113, 114–15, 119, 124, 138n
Shapley’s use of, xiii–xiv, 59, 62, 66–67, 72, 75, 119–20
Peru, 17–18
Philadelphia High School, 12
photographic plates:
black-star negatives of, 10–11, 30
comparison of, 59–60, 68, 95–96, 107
emulsion of, 10, 28–29
exposure of, 23–25, 61, 94
magnitude measured by, 14, 17–18
storage of, 10–11, 20, 117
time exposure of, 17, 28–30, 94
photometry, 16, 28–30, 56, 81, 86, 88, 90–91
physics, 15, 73, 77, 93, 100
Pickering, Edward Charles:
as astronomer, 15–18, 55–56, 107, 121–22
correspondence of, 23, 30–33, 39–42, 59, 66–67, 85
death of, 67, 73, 85
as Harvard Observatory director, 15–21, 73, 86–87, 88, 91–92
Leavitt’s relationship with, 25, 27–33, 37, 39–42, 55–56, 59, 66–67
photograph of, 19
as professor, 15, 27
publications of, 43
salary of, 21
Shapley’s relationship with, 59, 66–67, 85
Pickering, William, 18
Pilgrim Congregational Church, 25
pinwheel nebulae, 68–69, 92, 97–98
planetary orbits, 48, 54
Pleiades, 17, 111
Polaris, 16, 29, 53, 124
Population I, 114–15
Population II, 114–15, 146n
Princeton University, 82
prisms, 60, 102–7
Procyon, 52
“proto solar systems,” 59
protractors, 45
Ptolemy, 48
Puritanism, 25, 28
quadratic relationships, 105
quasars, 128–30
radar signals, 47
Radcliffe College, 26–27, 31, 136n
radial velocity, 64
radioactive dating, 111
“Realm of the Nebulae, The” (Hubble), 106
recessional velocities, 102–7, 123
redshift, 60–61, 64, 102–8, 110, 113, 115–16, 123, 125, 128–30
red stars, 56, 75
relativity, theory of, 5–6, 71, 98, 107–8, 130
religion, 12, 36, 69, 100, 118
robotics, 122
RR Lyraes, 124
Russell, Henry Norris, 45, 55, 64, 73, 74, 79, 82, 85, 86, 96, 97
Russian Imperial Observatory, 14
Sagan, Carl, 11
Sagittarius, 69, 95–96
Sandage, Allan, 98, 115–16, 121
satellites, 123–24
Saturn, 14, 134n
“Scale of the Universe” debate (1920), 70–81, 86, 98, 113, 115, 120–22, 133n, 140n–41n
“Scale of the Universe” debate (1996), 120–22
Schmidt, Maarten, 128
science fiction, 5–6, 7
Scopes, John T., 99
Sculptor Group, 7
Second Coming, 12
“1777 Variables in the Magellanic Clouds” (Leavitt), 38–39
Shakespeare, William, 21
Shapley, Harlow:
ants as interest of, 62–63, 69
as astronomer, 72–73, 82, 85–86, 92–94, 98, 107
background of, 64, 82
Cepheid standard used by, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 72, 74, 75, 76, 85, 94, 109–10, 113
correspondence of, 59, 66–67, 85
galaxy cluster named after, 118
in Great Debate (1920), 70–81, 86, 98, 113, 115, 120–22, 133n, 140n–41n
as Harvard Observatory director, 72–73, 82, 85–86, 107
Hubble’s relationship with, 82, 84, 95–98, 107, 109, 116, 142n
Leavitt as viewed by, 59, 66–67, 119–20
Milky Way as measured by (Big Galaxy theory), 62–81, 82, 84, 94–95, 109–10, 111, 112–13, 115, 119, 138n, 143n
at Mount Wilson Observatory, 62–63, 64–67, 68, 69, 84, 98, 107
nebulae as viewed by, 62, 74–76, 79, 80, 92–98, 146n
period-luminosity law used by, xiii–xiv, 59, 62, 66–67, 72, 75, 119–20
personality of, 62–63, 82, 92–93, 109
photograph of, 71
reputation of, 72–73, 79, 80, 85–86, 98, 118
“village in the canyon” analogy and, 80–81, 116, 133n
Shapley’s curve, 65, 72, 94, 109–10, 113
Sirius, 6, 15, 50, 52
61 Cygni, 52
Slipher, Vesto Melvin, 60–61
Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women, 26
sodium, 102
solar systems, 59, 99
space, 16, 78–79, 104, 111–13
space program, U.S., 7
space shuttle, 7
space-time curvature, 16, 104
space travel, 5–6, 11
spectral lines, 102–7
spectral type, 86, 87–88
spectrographic analysis, 15, 20, 29, 56, 60, 70, 78, 86, 87–88, 102–8, 114–15
Springfield Daily News, 99
star matter, 59, 60, 61, 78–80
stars:
appearance of, 38–39, 43–44, 45, 74–75, 77
binary, 51, 52, 64
blue, 74–75, 77
B-type, 74–75
chemical composition of, 15, 102–3, 114–15, 124
classification of, 16–17, 20, 86, 87–88
coordinates of, 35
data on, 15–16, 18
distance of, 6, 8, 15, 38–39, 43–44, 50–55
eclipses of, 29
exploding, 101, 124–25
magnitude of, see magnitude
motion of, 15, 64–65
position of, 15
pulsation of, 29–30, 36–37, 43–44, 45, 53–55, 64, 65, 76, 85, 100, 124
red, 56, 75
spectra of, 15, 20, 29, 56, 60, 70, 78, 86, 87–88, 102–8, 114–15
temperature of, 74–75
variable, see variable stars
velocity of, 64–65
see also specific stars
statistical parallax, 65, 124, 145n
stellar aggregations, 111–12
stellar photometry, 16, 28–30, 56, 81, 86, 88, 90–91
stellar regions, 116
Sullivan, Arthur, 21
Summer House Hill, 12–13
sun:
brightness of, 50, 74
distance of, 50
eclipses of, 15, 46–47
movement of, 54
position of, 11, 54, 63, 69, 75, 99, 110
spectrum of, 103
as star, 59, 77, 80
superclusters, 7–8, 123
Super-Galaxy Hypothesis, 146n
superluminal motion, 129
supernovae, 124–25
surveyor’s transits, 45
Swan, see Cygnus
Tammann, Gustav A., 120–21
telepathy, 5–6
telescopes:
improvement of, 51–52
lenses of, 14, 16, 17
limitations of, 130
mechanical clockworks for, 17
mirrors of, 16, 51
reflectors for, 122
see also specific telescopes and observatories
Third Cambridge Catalog of Radio Sources, 129
3C273 quasar, 128, 129
time, 5, 16, 104
Time for the Stars (Heinlein), 5–6
“tired light” theory, 104, 108, 129
transit of Venus, 49–50, 138n
transverse velocity, 65
triangulation, 2–3, 2, 45–55, 51, 80–81, 99–102, 130, 138n
Triangulum (M33) galaxy, 92–93, 94, 114, 123
trigonometry, 2, 45–49, 52, 80–81, 124, 130
Trumpler, Robert, 111–12
Tully-Fisher method, 125
Two Moons (Mallon), ix
Two on a Tower (Hardy), ix, 117
Type Ia supernovae, 125
uniformity principle, 77–78, 93, 96, 100, 113–14
universe:
age of, 110–11, 115, 120, 125
big bang theory of, 16, 108, 110–11, 115, 116, 120, 126, 129
center of, 69
expansion of, 106–8, 125–26
human position in, 69, 107–8, 125–26
mapping of, 11, 16, 99–101
Milky Way as, xiii, 8, 59–62, 69, 70, 84, 92–96, 98
size of, 7–8, 11, 98, 109–16, 120–26, 147n–48n
static, 107–8
uniformity principle in, 77–78, 93, 96, 100, 113–14
see also Milky Way
University of Chicago, 83
University of Missouri, 82
University of Pennsylvania, 62–63
unmanned space probes, 7
Uranus, 51
Ursa Major, 6
van den Bergh, Sidney, 120–21
van Maanen, Adriaan, 68–69, 84, 92–93, 97–98, 143n
variable stars:
cluster, 64–65, 115, 124
identification of, 29–30, 34–39, 40, 42–44, 45, 53–55, 62, 64–65, 75, 76, 85, 91–92, 94–96, 100, 107, 113, 116, 119–20
in Magellanic Clouds, 35–39, 40, 43–44, 53–55, 56, 64, 66–67, 76, 85, 92, 95, 96, 100, 113, 119
“overtones” of, 124
pulsation of, 29–30, 36–37, 43–44, 45, 53–55, 64, 65, 76, 85, 100, 124
see also Cepheid variables
Vaucouleurs, Gerard de, 121
Vega, 52
velocity, 60–61, 64–65, 84, 92, 102–7, 116, 123
Venus, transit of, 49–50, 138n
“village in the canyon” analogy, 1–5, 8, 80–81, 116, 127–28, 133n
Virgo, 7
virgocentric flow, 125
Virgo Cluster, 7, 123, 125
Virgo Supercluster, 123
Washington Post, 37
Watson, James D., 38
Weierstrass, Karl, 119
whirlpool nebulae, 68, 97–98
White Mountains, 16
Williams College, 26
women:
academic appointments of, 87, 91
as computers, 19–25, 86–88
education of, 26–27, 87
World War I, 83–84
World War II, 114
yellow-white stars, 77
Zöllner astrophotometer, 16
zone of avoidance, 78–80