Vera Rubin

Vera Rubin
Vera Rubin in 2009
Born	Vera Cooper (1928-07-23)July 23, 1928 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	December 25, 2016(2016-12-25) (aged 88) Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Vassar College, Cornell University, Georgetown University
Known for	Galaxy rotation problem Dark matter Rubin–Ford effect
Awards	Bruce Medal, Dickson Prize in Science, Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, National Medal of Science
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy
Institutions	Georgetown University, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Thesis	Fluctuations in the Space Distribution of the Galaxies (1954)
Doctoral advisor	George Gamow
Other academic advisors	Richard Feynman, Hans Bethe, Philip Morrison
Notable students	Sandra Faber

Vera Rubin (née Cooper; July 23, 1928 – December 25, 2016) was an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. She uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted angular motion of galaxies and the observed motion, by studying galactic rotation curves. This phenomenon became known as the galaxy rotation problem. Although initially met with skepticism, Rubin's results have been confirmed over the subsequent decades. Rubin's attempts to explain the galaxy rotation problem contributed to the theory of dark matter.

Early life

Rubin was born Vera Florence Cooper, on July 23, 1928, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the younger of two sisters, children of Philip Cooper, a Lithuanian-American electrical engineer with Bell Telephone, and Rose Applebaum Cooper, of Bessarabian descent, also with Bell, but departing form there because rules disallowed both to remain there in employment. Her parents were Jewish immigrants.

The family moved to Washington when Vera was 10, and it was there that she started to develop an interest in astronomy, describing that she had "become entranced by astronomy from watching the stars wheel past her bedroom window."

Education

Rubin earned her BA degree in astronomy at Vassar College and attempted to enroll at Princeton but never received their graduate catalogue, as women there were not allowed in the graduate astronomy program until 1975. She instead enrolled for her Master's degree at Cornell University, where she studied physics under Philip Morrison, and quantum physics under Richard Feynman and Hans Bethe. She completed her thesis study in 1951, in which she examined the possibility of a bulk rotation in the universe by searching for “non-Hubble flow”. during which she made one of the first observations of deviations from the Hubble flow in the motions of galaxies. In her thesis, Rubin argued that galaxies might be rotating around unknown centers, rather than simply moving outwards, as suggested by the Big Bang theory at that time. The presentation of these ideas was not well received, and the paper derived from them was rejected by both the Astronomical Journal and the Astrophysical Journal. Rubin later admitted that her data was scant, but argued that her thesis was significant in relation to Gerard de Vaucouleur's claim of evidence for a "Local Supercluster".

Rubin’s doctoral work at Georgetown University was conducted under advisor George Gamow. Her Ph.D. thesis in 1954 concluded that galaxies clumped together, rather than being randomly distributed through the universe. The idea that clusters of galaxies existed was not pursued seriously by others until two decades later.

Career

Upon receiving her Ph.D., Rubin continued to work on the faculty for another eleven years while raising her children. She served for a year as an Instructor of Mathematics and Physics at Montgomery County Community College, then moved on to a decade of work, form 1955-1965, at Georgetown University, as a Research Associate Astronomer (full period), Lecturer (1959-1962), and finally, Assistant Professor of Astronomy (1962-1965).

She joined the Carnegie Institution in 1965, as a Staff Member in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, where she met her long-time friend, Kent Ford. Five years after joining the D.T.M., Rubin and Ford began examining the rotation of neighboring galaxies, in particular the Andromeda Galaxy whose dark halo had effectively been discovered by Horace Babcock in 1939. In 1965, she became the first woman allowed to use the instruments at the Palomar Observatory. Prior to this, women had not been authorized to access the facilities. Rubin became and remained a Senior Fellow at the DTM, where her work area was described as "Galactic and extragalactic dynamics; large-scale structure and dynamics of the universe."

Galaxy rotation problem

Main article: Rubin-Ford effect

At the Carnegie, Rubin began work which was close to the topic of her previously controversial MS thesis regarding galaxy clusters, with instrument maker Kent Ford, making hundreds of observations. The Rubin–Ford effect, per Ian Ridpath, an '"anisotropy in the expansion of the Universe" that they appeared to have discovered—on a scale ca. 100 million light years, through study of a sample of spiral galaxy motion—was subsequently shown to be an apparent rather than actual. First appearing in journals in 1976, this early independent work of Rubin and colleagues is considered "pioneering," and has been the subject of "intense discussion" since it first appeared. As described by Bernard J.T. Jones in review in 2002, and current astronomy dictionary entries (e.g., OUP's Ridpath volume), the Rubin-Ford effect is now seen as being apparent, and based on spurious data that "probably only reflect the inhomogeneous distribution of galaxies in the region of the Rubin–Ford sample"—i.e., the original team had not discerned that "the Universe is not homogeneous on these scales".

Rubin moved her area of research to studying the rotation curves of galaxies, commencing with the Andromeda Galaxy. Following Babcock's 1939 report of unexpectedly rapid rotation in the outskirts of the Andromeda galaxy and a mass-to-light ratio of 50, in 1940 Jan Oort had similarly discovered and wrote about the large non-visible halo of NGC 3115. Rubin further uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted angular motion of galaxies and the observed motion, by studying galaxy rotation curves. The premise was that galaxies are rotating so fast that they should fly apart, if the gravity of their constituent stars was all that was holding them together; as they are not flying apart, a huge amount of unseen mass must be holding them together, a conundrum that became known as the galaxy rotation problem.

Rubin's calculations showed that galaxies must contain at least ten times as much dark mass as can be accounted for by the visible stars. 

These were the first robust results to suggest that either Newtonian gravity does not apply universally, gravity is not the sole responsible force for holding galaxies together, or that a large halo of invisible matter existed around these galaxies. Rubin's results have since been confirmed over subsequent decades, and attempts to explain the galaxy rotation problem have contributed to the theory of dark matter.

Rubin's perspective on the history of the work were presented in a review. "One Hundred Years of Rotating Galaxies," for the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 2000. She continued working on the analysis of how stars move in the outskirts of galaxies until her death in 2016.

Dark matter

Main article: Dark matter § History

The first to suggest the existence of dark matter, in particular, through the use of stellar velocities, was Dutch astronomer Jacobus Kapteyn, working in 1922. Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky of CalTech, working in 1933, observed that the estimated mass of the seven galaxies in the Coma Cluster based on their brightness was one-four hundredth of a mass estimate based on their motions, and coined the term dunkle Materie (German; "dark matter") to explain the discrepancy, an observation repeated by Sinclair Smith in 1936 for the Virgo Cluster, observations now seen as first glimpses of the existence of dark matter. In the 1970s Rubin made observations of galaxy rotations that provided evidence for the existence of dark matter, the strongest evidence up to that time. The nature of dark matter is as yet unknown, but its presence is crucial to understanding the universe.

The existence of dark matter jointly explains galaxy rotation curves, the motion of galaxies within galaxy clusters, patterns of gravitational lensing, and the distribution of mass in systems such as the Bullet Cluster. Alternative Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) models for galaxy rotation curves have been excluded. Rubin has expressed disappointment about this result, stating "If I could have my pick, I would like to learn that Newton's laws must be modified in order to correctly describe gravitational interactions at large distances. That's more appealing than a universe filled with a new kind of sub-nuclear particle."

Academy and society memberships

Rubin was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and of the American Philosophical Society.

Awards and honors

Her discoveries in the field of astronomy led to her receipt of many awards, the major ones including:

• Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, for "scientific distinction" and "determination and fortitude in advancing the rôle of women in astronomy," the first woman to be honoured since Caroline Herschel in 1828.
• Weizmann Women & Science Award
• Gruber International Cosmology Prize
• Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (2003), the "ASP’s highest honor, and one of the highest honors in the astronomical community… for a lifetime of outstanding research in astronomy."
• James Craig Watson Medal of the National Academy of Sciences (2004), for "her seminal observations of dark matter in galaxies, large-scale relative motions of galaxies, and for generous mentoring of young astronomers, men and women."
• Richtmyer Memorial Award
• Dickson Prize for Science
• National Medal of Science
• Adler Planetarium Lifetime Achievement Award
• Jansky Lectureship before the National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Major invited lectures

• Henry Norris Russell Lectureship before the American Astronomical Society.
• Invited Discourse at the 19th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union meeting in Delhi, India.

Honorary doctorates

Rubin has been awarded numerous honorary D.Sc. Degrees including doctorates from Creighton University, American University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Princeton University, and Harvard and Yale.

Asteroid 5726 Rubin was named in her honor.

Personal life

From 1948 and until her husband's death in 2008, Rubin was married to Robert Rubin, whom she met while he was a fellow graduate student at Cornell University majoring in physical chemistry. All four of her children have earned Ph.D.s in the natural sciences or mathematics: David (1950), Ph.D. geology, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey; Judith Young (1952–2014), Ph.D. cosmic-ray physics, an astronomer at the University of Massachusetts; Karl (1956), Ph.D. mathematics, a mathematician at the University of California at Irvine; and Allan (1960), Ph.D. geology, a geologist at Princeton University.

Motivated by her own battle to gain credibility as a woman in a field dominated by male astronomers, Rubin continued to encourage young girls to pursue their dreams of investigating the universe. Overcoming discouraging comments on her choice of study was a constant challenge, but she persevered, supported by her father and, later, her husband and family. In addition to astronomy, Rubin was a force for greater recognition of women in the sciences. She has advocated for more women in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), on review panels, and in academic searches. She said that she has fought with the NAS, but she continued to be dissatisfied with the number of women who are elected each year. She stated that it was the saddest part of her life and in 2002, she said, "Thirty years ago, I thought everything was possible."

Rubin advocated for the equality of women in astronomy. She would contact conference organizers and note the lack of diverse speakers. She advocated women to be accepted at Washington’s Cosmos Club.

Of her potential legacy, Rubin remarked : “Fame is fleeting, my numbers mean more to me than my name. If astronomers are still using my data years from now, that’s my greatest compliment.”

Rubin was Jewish, and saw no conflict between science and religion. In an interview, she stated: "In my own life, my science and my religion are separate. I'm Jewish, and so religion to me is a kind of moral code and a kind of history. I try to do my science in a moral way, and, I believe that, ideally, science should be looked upon as something that helps us understand our role in the universe."

Rubin died on the night of December 25, 2016. The president of the Carnegie Institution, where she performed the bulk of her work and research, called her a "national treasure."

In popular culture

• Rubin was featured in an animated segment of the 13th and final episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.
• Rubin can be seen on the 2006 BBC documentary Most of Our Universe is Missing.

Publications

Articles

• Rubin, Vera C.; Ford, W. Kent, Jr. (1970). "Rotation of the Andromeda Nebula from a Spectroscopic Survey of Emission Regions". The Astrophysical Journal. 159: 379. Bibcode:1970ApJ...159..379R. doi:10.1086/150317.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Rubin, V. C.; Roberts, M. S.; Graham, J. A.; Ford, W. K., Jr.; Thonnard, N. (1976). "Motion of the Galaxy and the local group determined from the velocity anisotropy of distant SC I galaxies. I – The data". The Astronomical Journal. 81: 687. Bibcode:1976AJ.....81..687R. doi:10.1086/111942.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Rubin, V. C.; Thonnard, N.; Ford, W. K., Jr. (1980). "Rotational properties of 21 SC galaxies with a large range of luminosities and radii, from NGC 4605 /R = 4kpc/ to UGC 2885 /R = 122 kpc/". The Astrophysical Journal. 238: 471. Bibcode:1980ApJ...238..471R. doi:10.1086/158003.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Rubin, V. C.; Burstein, D.; Ford, W. K., Jr.; Thonnard, N. (1985). "Rotation velocities of 16 SA galaxies and a comparison of Sa, Sb, and SC rotation properties". The Astrophysical Journal. 289: 81. Bibcode:1985ApJ...289...81R. doi:10.1086/162866.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Rubin, Vera C.; Graham, J. A.; Kenney, Jeffrey D. P. (1992). "Cospatial counterrotating stellar disks in the Virgo E7/S0 galaxy NGC 4550". The Astrophysical Journal. 394: L9. Bibcode:1992ApJ...394L...9R. doi:10.1086/186460.
• Rubin, Vera C. (1995). "A Century of Galaxy Spectroscopy". The Astrophysical Journal. 451: 419. Bibcode:1995ApJ...451..419R. doi:10.1086/176230.

Books

• Rubin, Vera (1997). Bright galaxies, dark matters. Woodbury, NY: AIP Press. ISBN 1-56396-231-4.

Further reading

• Bartusiak, Marcia (October 1990). "The woman who spins the stars" (PDF). Discover: 88–94. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
• Grant, Andrew December 27, 2016 Vera Rubin in the pages of Physics Today DOI:10.1063/PT.5.9080
• Irion, R. (2002). "VERA RUBIN PROFILE: The Bright Face Behind the Dark Sides of Galaxies". Science. 295 (5557): 960–961. doi:10.1126/science.295.5557.960.
• Lightman, Alan; Roberta, Brawer (1990). Origins : the lives and worlds of modern cosmologists. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-64470-0.
• Overbye, Dennis (1991). Lonely hearts of the cosmos : the scientific quest for the secret of the universe (1st ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-015964-1.
• Panek, Richard (2011). The 4 Percent Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-618-98244-8.
• Peebles, P.J.E. (1993). Principles of physical cosmology. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-691-01933-8.
• Rubin, Robert (2006). "Vera Cooper Rubin (1928–)". In Byers, Nina; Williams, Gary (eds.). Out of the shadows : contributions of twentieth-century women to physics (Reprinted ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr. pp. 343–354. ISBN 978-0-521-82197-1.
• Rubin, Vera (1998). "Dark matter in the Universe" (PDF). Scientific American Presents (special quarterly issue: Magnificent Cosmos). 9 (1): 106–110.
• Smith, Julian A. (1995). "Rubin, Vera". In McMurray, Emily J.; Kosek, Jane Kelly; Valade III, Roger M. (eds.). Notable twentieth-century scientists. Detroit, MI: Gale Research. ISBN 978-0-8103-9181-9.

External links

• Vera Rubin at Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington
• Vera Rubin in CWP at UCLA
• Vera Rubin's Dark Universe
• Vera Rubin and Dark Matter, American Museum of Natural History
• Vera Rubin at Peter Gruber Foundation
• Astronomical Society of the Pacific: Women in Astronomy
• Lake Afton Public Observatory: Women in Astronomy
• Princeton University 2005 honorary degrees press release
• Oral History interview transcript with Vera Rubin 21 September 1995, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives
• Adler Planetarium Women in Space Science Award