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Scientist Exhibit

Henrietta Swan Leavitt

Astronomy & Astrophysics

1868 – 1921 United States

Discovered the period-luminosity relationship of Cepheid variable stars

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Henrietta Swan Leavitt

Overview

About Henrietta Swan Leavitt

Henrietta Swan Leavitt studied photographic plates at the Harvard College Observatory. While examining variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds, she identified a relationship between the period of a Cepheid star's brightness changes and its true luminosity. Astronomers could use this relationship to estimate distances across space.

Scientific Contribution

Key Discovery

Cepheid period-luminosity relationship

The relationship between a Cepheid variable star's pulsation period and intrinsic luminosity, known as Leavitt's Law.

Life Timeline

Important Moments

1893

career

Begins work at Harvard College Observatory

Leavitt began working with photographic plates at Harvard College Observatory, studying and cataloguing variable stars.

1908

discovery

Reports a pattern between Cepheid period and brightness

Leavitt reported that brighter Cepheid variables in the Small Magellanic Cloud had longer periods.

1912

publication

Establishes the Cepheid period-luminosity relation

Her 1912 work quantified the relationship between Cepheid period and luminosity, creating a powerful basis for measuring astronomical distances.

Places & Networks

Institutions