Embedded Files
Explored by Helen Sawyer Hogg
Explored by Helen Sawyer Hogg
Globular clusters – giant spherical blobs of thousands to hundreds of thousands of stars – were Helen Sawyer Hogg’s favorite celestial objects. When she was a PhD student at Harvard under Harlow Shapley in the late 1920s, he had recently discovered that these clusters all appeared in generally the same direction in the sky. This suggested that they (rather than our Solar System) were all located around the center of the Milky Way, and that the Sun was relatively far from our galaxy's center. Inspired by these discoveries, she followed the “glorius lure of globular clusters” to specialize in identifying variable stars within clusters.
Globular clusters – giant spherical blobs of thousands to hundreds of thousands of stars – were Helen Sawyer Hogg’s favorite celestial objects. When she was a PhD student at Harvard under Harlow Shapley in the late 1920s, he had recently discovered that these clusters all appeared in generally the same direction in the sky. This suggested that they (rather than our Solar System) were all located around the center of the Milky Way, and that the Sun was relatively far from our galaxy's center. Inspired by these discoveries, she followed the “glorius lure of globular clusters” to specialize in identifying variable stars within clusters.
Follow Helen's Stars: Use the MicroObservatory Telescopes to take your OWN image of the Hercules Cluster!
Follow Helen's Stars: Use the MicroObservatory Telescopes to take your OWN image of the Hercules Cluster!
When you get your image back - zoom in and imagine making measurements of the changing brightness of dozens of individual stars within the cluster, and doing that over hundreds of observations over time! That's what Dr. Hogg did!
Interested in the woman behind this science? Learn more about Helen Sawyer Hogg!
Page updated
Report abuse