Astronomer Annie Jump Cannon was born #OTD in 1863. She was a pioneer of stellar classification and co-creator of the Harvard Classification Scheme.
Over her lifetime she *manually* classified around 350,000 stars. (1/n) 🧪 🔭 👩🔬 ⚛️
Image: Harvard University, Radcliffe Archives
Over her lifetime she *manually* classified around 350,000 stars. (1/n) 🧪 🔭 👩🔬 ⚛️
Image: Harvard University, Radcliffe Archives
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The Harvard Classification system, adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is still used today. (2/n)
Cannon excelled and graduated in 1884 as the valedictorian of her class. But she didn't pursue a career in science. Instead, she moved home to Delaware where she led an active social life. (5/n)
Then, in 1894, Annie’s mother died. The loss prompted her to leave Delaware. She wrote to Whiting, who offered her a position teaching physics at Wellesley. (6/n)
She began to work at the Harvard observatory under the direction of Edward Pickering, and was surprised to find several other women working there. (7/n)