astro.wikisort.org - Researcher

Ellen Dorrit Hoffleit (March 12, 1907 – April 9, 2007)[1] was an American senior research astronomer at Yale University. She is most widely known for her work in variable stars, astrometry, spectroscopy, meteors, and the Bright Star Catalog, as well as her mentorship of many young women and generations of astronomers.[2]

Dorrit Hoffleit
Born	(1907-03-12)March 12, 1907 Florence, Alabama
Died	April 9, 2007(2007-04-09) (aged 100) New Haven, Connecticut
Nationality	American
Other names	Ellen Dorrit Hoffleit
Alma mater	Radcliffe College
Known for	Bright Star Catalog
Awards	Caroline Wilby Prize George Van Biesbroeck Prize (1988)
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy
Institutions	Harvard College Observatory, Ballistic Research Laboratory, Harvard University, Yale University, Maria Mitchell Observatory
Thesis	On the Spectroscopic Determination of Absolute Magnitudes, With Application to the Southern Stars of Types Later than A. (1938)
Doctoral advisor	Bart Bok

Life

Hoffleit's interest in astronomy started with the 1919 Perseid meteor shower that she saw with her mother.[3] She earned her B.A. in 1928, graduating cum laude in mathematics, before working for the Harvard College Observatory searching for variable stars.[4] She went on to earn her Ph.D. in astronomy from Radcliffe College in 1938[5] and was hired as an astronomer at Harvard in 1948. She remained there until moving to Yale in 1956, where she stayed until her 1975 retirement.[6]

At Yale she followed in the footsteps of Ida Barney, taking over her astrometric work, and of whom she later wrote "To know [her] was a pleasure, inspiration, and privilege, both at work and socially."[7] Hoffleit also served as director of the Maria Mitchell Observatory on Nantucket Island from 1957 to 1978, where she ran summer programs (May–October) for more than 100 students, many of whom went on to successful careers in astronomy.[2] In her final years at Yale, Hoffleit was tasked with teaching the most basic course on astronomy to undergraduates. Her passionate lectures in Davies Hall, usually with over 100 students, inspired and awed them. She thus engendered a lifelong interest in astronomy to young men and women, many of whom were simply satisfying a prerequisite to their undergraduate degrees.

During the mid 1950s, Hoffleit consulted for the U.S. Army's Ballistic Research Laboratories in "Doppler reductions."[8]

She was the main editor of the Yale Bright Star Catalogue, a compendium of information on the 9,110 brightest stars in the sky, for several editions. She also co-authored The General Catalogue of Trigonometric Stellar Parallaxes, containing precise distance measurements to 8,112 stars, information critical to understanding the kinematics of the Milky Way galaxy and the evolution of the solar neighborhood. With Harlan J. Smith, Hoffleit discovered the optical variability of the first-discovered quasar 3C 273.[9]

In 1988, Hoffleit was awarded the George Van Biesbroeck Prize by the American Astronomical Society for a lifetime of service to astronomy. On March 7-8, 1997, Yale University hosted a symposium in honor of Hoffleit's 90th birthday, dedicated to her nearly 70-year career.[10]

Hoffleit turned 100 on March 12, 2007, and died a month later from complications of cancer.[11]

See also

• Ida Barney
• Cora G. Burwell

References

Further reading

• "Bibliography: Dorrit Hoffleit". Women in Astronomy. Library of Congress. Retrieved 18 November 2012.

External links

• Dr. Dorrit Hoffleit, member of the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame
  • Bibliography from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
• Papers, 1906-2005. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
• Picture of Dorrit Hoffleit: https://web.archive.org/web/20140116114142/http://www.astro.yale.edu/vlg8/images/dorrit.jpg.jpeg
• E. Dorrit Hoffleit Papers (MS 1915). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.

На других языках

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[de] Dorrit Hoffleit

Ellen Dorrit Hoffleit (* 12. März 1907 in Florence (Alabama); † 9. April 2007 in New Haven, Connecticut) war eine US-amerikanische Astronomin.

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- [en] Dorrit Hoffleit

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[it] Dorrit Hoffleit

Ellen Dorrit Hoffleit (Florence, 12 marzo 1907 – New Haven, 9 aprile 2007[1]) è stata un'astronoma statunitense, ricercatrice presso l'Università Yale. È conosciuta soprattutto per il suo lavoro sulle stelle variabili, sull'astrometria, sulla spettroscopia, sulle meteore e sul catalogo delle stelle luminose, nonché per essere stata mentore di molte giovani donne e generazioni di astronomi.[2]

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