Margaret Mayall | |
---|---|
Born | January 27, 1902 Iron Hill, Maryland, US |
Died | December 6, 1995 93) | (aged
Nationality | American |
Education | Swarthmore College |
Alma mater | Swarthmore College Radcliffe College (M.A.) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy |
Margaret Walton Mayall (January 27, 1902 – December 6, 1995) was an American astronomer. She was the director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) from 1949 to 1973.[1]
Early life and education
Mayall (born Margaret Lyle Walton) was born in Iron Hill, Maryland, on 27 January 1902.[1] She attended the University of Delaware, where her interest in astronomy grew after taking math and chemistry courses.[2] She then moved to Swarthmore College, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics in 1924.[3]
She earned an MA in Astronomy from Radcliffe College, Harvard University, in 1928 and worked as a research assistant and astronomer at Harvard College Observatory from 1924 to 1954, initially working with Annie Jump Cannon on classifying star spectra and estimating star brightness.[3] She was a research staff member at the Heat Research Laboratory, Special Weapons Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1943 to 1946.[4]
Personal life
While working in Nantucket, she met Robert Newton Mayall, a member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). They married in 1927.[1]
She died of congestive heart failure in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 6 December 1995.[1]
Awards
In 1958 she won the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Margaret Walton Mayall (1902–1995)". aas.org. American Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- ↑ "Halley's Comet & Northern Lights Stimulated Interest in Astronomy for a Young Lady From Iron Hill". Window on Cecil County's Past. January 16, 2015. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- 1 2 Notick, Samantha (2022). "Margaret Walton Mayall". Wolbach Library. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- ↑ Saladyga, Michael. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (PDF). p. 751.
Further reading
- Williams, Thomas R.; Saladyga, Michael (2011). Advancing Variable Star Astronomy: The Centennial History of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49634-6.
External links
- Letters at the AAVSO
- Oral history interview with Margaret Mayall on 11 August 1986, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Session I
- Oral history interview with Margaret Mayall on 12 September 1986, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Session II
- The Harold C. Ernst Collection of Portable Sundials