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]
Margaret Mayall | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 27, 1902 Iron Hill, Maryland, US |
| Died | December 6, 1995 (aged 93) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Swarthmore College |
| Alma mater | Swarthmore College Radcliffe College (M.A.) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
Early life and education
editMayall (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] During this time, she would spend summers working with Margaret Hardwood of the Maria Mitchell Observatory in Nantucket, MA, where she became interested in researching variable stars.[4] She was a research staff member at the Heat Research Laboratory, Special Weapons Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1943 to 1946.[5]
Personal life
editWhile working in Nantucket, she met Robert Newton Mayall, a member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), and would marry in 1927.[1] They co-wrote several books on sundial and other subjects while working with the Ernst Sundial Collection of Harvard.[4]
She died of congestive heart failure in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 6 December 1995.[1]
Awards
editIn 1957, she was the recipient of the G. Bruce Blair Gold Medal from the Western Amateur Society.[4]
In 1958, she won the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy.[1]
In 1982, a minor planet was named, 3342 Fivesparks, in honor of her and her husband's home in Cambridge.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "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.
- ^ a b Notick, Samantha (2022). "Margaret Walton Mayall". Wolbach Library. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- ^ a b c d "Margaret Walton Mayall". library.cfa.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
- ^ Saladyga, Michael. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (PDF). p. 751.
Further reading
edit- 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
edit- 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