| Margaret Mayall | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 27, 1902 Iron Hill, Maryland, US |
| Died | December 6, 1995(1995-12-06) (aged 93) Cambridge, Massachusetts, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Swarthmore College |
| Alma mater | Swarthmore College Radcliffe College (M.A.) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
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.
Early life and education
Mayall (born Margaret Lyle Walton) was born in Iron Hill, Maryland, on 27 January 1902. She attended the University of Delaware, where her interest in astronomy grew after taking math and chemistry courses. She then moved to Swarthmore College, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics in 1924.
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. 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. She was a research staff member at the Heat Research Laboratory, Special Weapons Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1943 to 1946.
Personal life
While working in Nantucket, she met Robert Newton Mayall, a member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), and would marry in 1927. They co-wrote several books on sundial and other subjects while working with the Ernst Sundial Collection of Harvard.
She died of congestive heart failure in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 6 December 1995.
Awards
In 1957, she was the recipient of the G. Bruce Blair Gold Medal from the Western Amateur Society.
In 1958, she won the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy.
In 1982, a minor planet was named, 3342 Fivesparks, in honor of her and her husband's home in Cambridge.
References
- ^ "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.
- ^ Notick, Samantha (2022). "Margaret Walton Mayall". Wolbach Library. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- ^ "Margaret Walton Mayall". library.cfa.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
- Saladyga, Michael. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (PDF). p. 751.
Further reading
- 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
- 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