Martha Stahr Carpenter was an American astronomer and president of the AAVSO for three terms between 1951 and 1954. In 1947, she became the first women faculty member in the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences.[1][2] Stahr advised distinguished astronomer Vera Rubin in galactic dynamics while at Cornell, after which, Rubin went on to provide the first evidence for dark matter using galactic rotation curves.[3]
Martha Stahr Carpenter | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 29, 1920 |
| Died | February 12, 2013 (aged 92) |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1945, M.S. 1943) Wellesley College (B.A. 1941) |
| Known for | Microwave astronomy Variable stars |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | University of Virginia (Associate professor 1973-1986) Cornell University (Assistant professor 1947-1953, Associate professor 1953-1955, Research associate 1955-1969) Wellesley College (Instructor 1945-1947) |
| Notable students | Vera Rubin |
Research
editStahr's research interests included observations of variable stars,[4] galactic structure using 21-cm emission,[5][6] and microwave radio astronomy.[7] During her graduate studies between 1944 and 1945, she was able to use the Lick Observatory as a student because very few astronomers were around during war time.[2] She recounted in 2011,
"most of the astronomers had left. There was a discussion as to whether a woman could handle the big telescope, [but] I just went up there. The man was there doing all he could to handle it, and it wasn’t before long that I was doing it with him, so they were very glad that the telescope was kept in use, because it was more than one person could handle"[2]
She published the first comprehensive bibliography of scientific literature on microwave radio sources in 1948 and continued to provide updated supplements throughout her career to help astronomers around the world discover and remain informed of recent research done in radio astronomy.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Campbell, Donald (2019). "RADIO ASTRONOMY AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY: THE EARLY YEARS, 1946 TO 1962" (PDF). Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. 22 (3): 503‒520. doi:10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2019.03.10. S2CID 256560015.
- ^ a b c Larsen, Kristine (2012). "Reminiscences on the Career of Martha Stahr Carpenter: Between a Rock and (Several) Hard Places" (PDF). JAAVSO. 40 (1): 51. Bibcode:2012JAVSO..40...51L.
- ^ de Swart, J. G.; Bertone, G.; van Dongen, J. (2017-03-02). "How dark matter came to matter". Nature Astronomy. 1 (3): 0059. arXiv:1703.00013. Bibcode:2017NatAs...1E..59D. doi:10.1038/s41550-017-0059. ISSN 2397-3366. S2CID 119092226.
- ^ Swope, Henrietta H.; Stahr, Martha (1939-01-01). "Magnitude estimates of vairbales of MWF 185". Project PHAEDRA: Preserving Harvard's Early Data and Research in Astronomy. Harvard College Observatory Observations. 19: 2553. Bibcode:1939phae.proj.2553S.
- ^ Kerr, F. J.; Hindman, J. V.; Carpenter, Martha S. (1956-02-01). "Observations of the southern Milky Way at 21 centimeters". The Astronomical Journal. 61: 7. Bibcode:1956AJ.....61....7K. doi:10.1086/107273. ISSN 0004-6256.
- ^ Kerr, F. J.; Hindman, J. V.; Carpenter, Martha Stahr (1957-10-01). "The Large-Scale Structure Of the Galaxy". Nature. 180 (4588): 677–679. Bibcode:1957Natur.180..677K. doi:10.1038/180677a0. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 6851109.
- ^ Stahr Carpenter, Martha (1948). "Bibliography of Radio Astronomy". Cornell School of Electrical Engineering Radio Astronomy Report.