She Invented That A digital museum of women in science

Scientist Exhibit

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

Astronomy & Astrophysics

1900 – 1979 United States, United Kingdom

Showed that stars are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium

Overview Institutions
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

Overview

About Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin applied atomic physics to stellar spectra and concluded that stars are made primarily of hydrogen and helium. This overturned the prevailing assumption that stars had a composition similar to Earth. Her doctoral research became a cornerstone of modern astrophysics, and she later became the first woman to chair a department at Harvard.

Scientific Contribution

Key Discovery

Hydrogen and helium as the dominant elements in stars

Demonstration that stars are composed predominantly of hydrogen and helium.

Life Timeline

Important Moments

1923

career

Moves to Harvard College Observatory

Payne left Britain for the United States to pursue astronomy at Harvard College Observatory.

1925

publication

Completes her landmark thesis Stellar Atmospheres

Her doctoral thesis applied ionisation theory to stellar spectra and showed that hydrogen and helium are enormously abundant in stars.

1925

discovery

Shows that stars are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium

Payne's analysis overturned the prevailing assumption that stars had broadly Earth-like elemental compositions.

1956

career

Becomes Harvard's first woman full professor in astronomy

Payne-Gaposchkin became a full professor at Harvard and chaired the astronomy department.

Places & Networks

Institutions