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Cora G. Burwell

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Cora G. Burwell
An older white woman, smiling, wearing glasses.
Cora G. Burwell, from a 1949 newspaper.
Born(1883-06-25)June 25, 1883
Massachusetts, US
DiedJune 20, 1982(1982-06-20) (aged 98)
Los Angeles, California, US
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMount Holyoke College (BA)
Known forInterpretation of stellar spectral data
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
InstitutionsMount Wilson Observatory

Cora Gertrude Burwell (June 25, 1883 – June 20, 1982) was an American astronomical researcher specialized in stellar spectroscopy. She was based at Mount Wilson Observatory from 1907 to 1949.

Early life

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Cora Gertrude Burwell was born in Massachusetts and raised in Stafford Springs, Connecticut.[1] She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1906[2][3] and was active in Holyoke alumnae activities in the Los Angeles area.[4][5]

Career

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In July, 1907,[6] Burwell was appointed to a "human computer" position at Mount Wilson Observatory.[7][8] In 1910, she attended the fourth conference of the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research, when it was held at Mount Wilson.[9]

Burwell specialized in stellar spectroscopy.[2] She was solo author on some scientific publications,[10][11][12][13][14] and co-authored several others (some of which she was lead author), with notable collaborators including Dorrit Hoffleit,[15] Henrietta Swope,[16] Walter S. Adams,[17] and Paul W. Merrill.[18] With Merrill she compiled several catalogs of Be stars,[19] in 1933, 1943, 1949, and 1950.[20] She also helped to tend the Mount Wilson Observatory Library.[21] She retired from the observatory in 1949,[2] but continued speaking about astronomy to community groups. She also published a book of poetry, Neatly Packed.[22]

Personal life

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Cora Burwell lived in Pasadena, and later in Monrovia with her sister, Priscilla Burwell.[2] She died in 1982, two days before her 99th birthday, in Los Angeles.

References

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  1. ^ Catalogue of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. Mount Holyoke College. 1903. p. 94 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b c d "Caltech Librarian, Astronomer End Long-Time Scientific Whirl". Pasadena Independent. 1949-07-01. p. 12. Retrieved 2020-12-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ General Catalogue of Officers and Students of Mount Holyoke College, 1837-1911. Mount Holyoke College. 1911. p. 339 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Entertaining for Visitor from China". The Pasadena Post. 1925-09-05. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-12-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Mount Holyoke Club Schedules Spring Meeting". Daily News. 1951-04-18. p. 36. Retrieved 2020-12-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Mount Wilson Observatory (1906). Annual Report of the Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory. Carnegie Institution of Washington. p. 137.
  7. ^ Vuong, Zen (2015-10-06). "These women were 'human computers' before they were allowed to be astronomers". Pasadena Star News. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  8. ^ Sandage, Allan; Brown, Louis; Allan, Sandage (2004). Centennial History of the Carnegie Institution of Washington: Volume 1, The Mount Wilson Observatory: Breaking the Code of Cosmic Evolution. Cambridge University Press. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-521-83078-2.
  9. ^ "International Union for Co-operation in Solar Research". Photographic Archive, The University of Chicago. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  10. ^ Burwell, Cora G. (1937-12-01). "A Nova in Sagittarius (June, 1936)". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 49 (292): 342–343. Bibcode:1937PASP...49..342B. doi:10.1086/124871. ISSN 0004-6280.
  11. ^ Burwell, Cora G. (October 1938). "Lines of Ionized Barium in Stellar Spectra". Astrophysical Journal. 88: 278–283. Bibcode:1938ApJ....88..278B. doi:10.1086/143982.
  12. ^ Burwell, Cora G. (1953). "Classifying Stars by Their Spectra". Leaflet of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 6 (289): 307. Bibcode:1953ASPL....6..307B. ISSN 0004-6272.
  13. ^ Burwell, Cora G. (1951). "The Astronomer's Most Useful Chart". Leaflet of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 6 (271): 162. Bibcode:1951ASPL....6..162B. ISSN 0004-6272.
  14. ^ Burwell, Cora G. (1950). "Search for Stars with Glowing Hydrogen". Leaflet of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 6 (258): 59. Bibcode:1950ASPL....6...59B. ISSN 0004-6272.
  15. ^ Burwell, Cora G.; Hoffleit, Dorrit (1943-08-01). "A Faint Nova in Ophiuchus (June 1939)". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 55 (325): 194. Bibcode:1943PASP...55..194B. doi:10.1086/125544. ISSN 0004-6280.
  16. ^ Burwell, Cora G.; Swope, Henrietta (1941-12-01). "A Faint Nova in Ophiuchus (July 1940)". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 53 (316): 343. Bibcode:1941PASP...53..343B. doi:10.1086/125374. ISSN 0004-6280.
  17. ^ Adams, Walter S.; Burwell, Cora G. (1915). "Results of an Investigation of the Flash Spectrum without an Eclipse". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1 (3): 127–130. doi:10.1073/pnas.1.3.127. ISSN 0027-8424. JSTOR 83486. PMC 1090757. PMID 16575960.
  18. ^ Merrill, Paul W.; Burwell, Cora G.; Miller, William C. (1947-08-01). "The Spectrum of Nova Sagittarii May 1947". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 59 (349): 194. Bibcode:1947PASP...59..194M. doi:10.1086/125950. ISSN 0004-6280.
  19. ^ Tipton, Everett (April 28, 1933). "Science Finds Hottest Stars". San Pedro News Pilot. p. 16. Retrieved December 3, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  20. ^ "Be stars | Shelyak Instruments". Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  21. ^ Connor, Elizabeth (June 1950). "The Mount Wilson Observatory Library". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 62 (365): 98–99. Bibcode:1950PASP...62...98C. doi:10.1086/126241.
  22. ^ "Duarte Woman's Club to Honor New Members". Daily News-Post and Monrovia News-Post. 1950-01-14. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-12-03 – via Newspapers.com.
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