There were too many factors that could skew the possible results. The difficulty was that this could not be confirmed by observing these stars in this galaxy. Leavitt first made the observation in 1904 that there was a relationship between how long a Cepheid took to complete one of these cycles and its ultimate magnitude. The Cepheids were named after the first star of this type to be discovered, Delta Cephei. These variable stars become brighter, then dim in a regular cycle. Worked on Several Major Research Projects This ranking would become a standard used by astronomers, known as the Harvard Standard. "One can't keep up with the roll of the new discoveries." It was while working at the observatory that Leavitt discovered a means to rank the magnitudes or brightness of stars on photographic plates. "What a variable-star 'fiend' Miss Leavitt is," wrote Charles Young of Princeton in a letter to Pickering. The following year that number grew to more than 840 stars. By 1904 she discovered more than 200 variable stars using this method. If the positive and negative star images didn't match up, she would flag a potential variable." This technique was known as superposition. Leavitt would simply overlay the positive plate of a region of sky on the negative plate taken on a different night. According to Astronomy, "The technique for variable hunting was strikingly uncomplicated. In her role in the photometry department, Leavitt was assigned to search photographic plates for variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds regions. Pickering would typically assign work to Leavitt on topics that interested him.ĭeveloped Reputation as Variable Star "Fiend" Actually, she was given no latitude in her choice of research. This post did not give Leavitt time to indulge in theoretical work. Employing photography in astronomy necessitated adjusting astronomers' magnitude scale to compensate for the way film registers light. The science of measuring stars' brightness. Leavitt was soon promoted as head of the photographic photometry department. Other women in this group also became well-respected astronomers, including Annie Jump Cannon and Williamina Fleming. It has been said that Pickering hired women in order to save money because he would have had to pay men with the same education greater salaries.
Leavitt was one of a group of women working at the observatory who were known as computers. She was given a permanent position in 1902 by Edward Pickering, a noted astronomer who was head of the Harvard College Observatory. "She soon rose 'by her scientific ability and intense application,' " according to her biography on the Amercian Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) website. This was a voluntary post her assignment was to determine stars' magnitudes by consulting photographs of the heavens. Leavitt received an appointment as a research assistant at the Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge in 1895. It left her profoundly deaf and she stayed home for several years. It was while in her senior year of college that Leavitt first became interested in astronomy.Īfter graduation she took another astronomy course, but then suffered a debilitating illness. Radcliffe College of Harvard University) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she finished her A.B. She transferred to the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women (which would later be known as Leavitt studied at Oberlin College in Ohio between 18. The Leavitt family eventually relocated to Cleveland, Ohio. The majority of people in that period did not support education for women. Her parents, who were said to have been strict Puritans, did encourage Leavitt to use her intellect. Her parents were Henrietta Swan Kendrick and George Roswell Leavitt, a Congregationalist minister whose parish was in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Henrietta Swan Leavitt was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1868, where she was one of seven children.