Charlotte Moore Sitterly

Charlotte Moore Sitterly
Born (1898-09-24)September 24, 1898
Ercildoun, Pennsylvania
Died March 3, 1990(1990-03-03) (aged 91)
Nationality American
Alma mater Princeton
Awards Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy (1937)
Federal Woman's Award (1961)
Bruce Medal (1990)
Scientific career
Fields astronomy
Influences Henry Norris Russell
Bancroft W. Sitterly
Influenced William C. Martin

Charlotte Emma Moore Sitterly (September 24, 1898 – March 3, 1990) was an American astronomer.[1] She is known for her extensive spectroscopic studies of the Sun and chemical elements. Her tables of data are known for their reliability and still used regularly.[2]

Early life and education

Fallowfield Friends Meeting

Charlotte Moore was born to George W. and Elizabeth Walton Moore in Ercildoun, Pennsylvania, a small village near Coatesville. Her father was the Superintendent of Schools for Chester County and her mother was a schoolteacher. Her parents were Quakers and Charlotte was a lifelong member of Fallowfield Friends Meeting.[3]

She attended Swarthmore College, where she participated in many extracurricular activities such as ice hockey, student government, glee club, and tutoring. In order to pay her tuition, Moore was a substitute teacher.[3] She graduated from Swarthmore in 1920 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and went on to Princeton to work as a human computer.[4]

Career

On the recommendation of her mathematics professor at Swarthmore, Moore obtained a job at the Princeton University Observatory working for Professor Henry Norris Russell as a human computer carrying out calculations needed to use photographic plates in determining the position of the Moon.[3] Over time, while working for Russell, Moore's interest in astrophysics began to blossom. Russell and Moore researched binary stars and stellar mass, and published extensively on the subject over the years of their collaboration.[5] Her research included an effort to classify 2500 stars based on their spectra.[6]

After five years at Princeton, as part of an ongoing collaboration between Russell and research groups there, she moved to the Mount Wilson Observatory where she worked extensively on solar spectroscopy, analyzing the spectral lines of the Sun and thereby identifying the chemical elements in the Sun. With her collaborators, she analyzed the spectra of sunspots.[5] Her pictures from the Mount Wilson Observatory helped redetermine the new International Angstrom scale. She earned a Ph.D. in astronomy in 1931 from the University of California, Berkeley on a Lick Fellowship; she was not able to study at Princeton because they did not accept women - and would not for the next 30 years.[4][3] While working on her Ph.D, she continued researching spectroscopy and collected and analyzed data about the spectra of chemical elements and molecules. After obtaining her Ph.D, she returned to Princeton to continue work with Russell as a research assistant.[4]

One of her most significant contributions to physics was her identification of technetium in sunlight, the first example of technetium naturally existing. She joined the then National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in 1945.[7] Her tables of atomic spectra and energy levels, published by NBS, have remained essential references in spectroscopy for decades. While there, she began to research the infrared solar spectrum and atomic energy levels.[3] Later in her life, it became possible to launch instruments on rockets and she extended her work to the ultraviolet spectral lines.[8]

In 1949 she became the first woman elected as an associate of the Royal Astronomical Society of Great Britain, in honor of her work on multiplet tablets and in identifying solar spot electra. Throughout her career she authored and co-authored over 100 papers and attended the tenth general assembly of the International Astronomical Union on the Joint Commission on Spectroscopy in Moscow in 1958.[4] Sitterly retired from her position at the NBS when she turned 70, in 1968, but continued her research at the Naval Research Laboratory.[8] Sitterly was honored by the Journal of the Optical Society of America by a commemorative issue in 1988.[9]

Personal life

During her second stay at Princeton, she met and married, on May 30, 1937, Bancroft W. Sitterly, who became a physics professor. She continued to publish journals under her maiden name because most of her recognition was under that name. She believed that traveling is one of the most important aspects of a scientist's life, as it promotes collaboration between scientists. She enjoyed gardening, traveling, and music with her husband until his death in 1977. She continued her research until her death from heart failure at the age of 91.[4]

Honors

Awards

Service

  • Vice President, American Astronomical Society
  • Vice President, American Association for the Advancement of Science Section D
  • President, Commission on Fundamental Spectroscopic Data, International Astronomical Union

Named after her

Works

  • A Multiplet Table of Astrophysical Interest, 1933
  • The Solar Spectrum (with Harold D. Babcock), 1947
  • The Masses of the Stars (with Henry Norris Russell), 1940
  • Ultraviolet Multiplet Table, 1950
  • Atomic Energy Levels as Derived from the Analyses of Optical Spectra, 1958

Further reading

  • BAAS Obituary
  • Bibliography from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
  • "Oral History Transcript — Dr. Charlotte Moore Sitterly", American Institute of Physics.
  • Wayne, Tiffany K. (2011). American women of science since 1900. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598841596.

References

  1. ↑ Martin, William C. (April 1991). "Obituary: Charlotte Moore Sitterly". Physics Today. 44 (4): 128–130. Bibcode:1991PhT....44d.128M. doi:10.1063/1.2810096. Archived from the original on 2013-10-05.
  2. ↑ "Bruce Medal: Charlotte Emma Moore Sitterly". Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Rubin, Vera C. (2010-07-01). "Charlotte Moore Sitterly". Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. 13: 145–148. Bibcode:2010JAHH...13..145R. ISSN 1440-2807.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Shearer, Benjamin F. (1997). Notable women in the physical sciences : a biographical dictionary (1. publ. ed.). Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press. pp. 375–381. ISBN 0313293031.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Bruce Medalists: Charlotte E. Moore Sitterly". www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  6. ↑ Roman, Nancy G. (1991-09-01). "Obituary: Charlotte Moore Sitterly, 24 September 1898- 3 March 1990". 23: 1492–1494. Bibcode:1991BAAS...23.1492R.
  7. ↑ Walter Sullivan (March 8, 1990). "Charlotte Sitterly, 91; Devoted Career to Sunlight Studies". The New York Times.
  8. 1 2 "Dr. Charlotte Moore Sitterly and the National Bureau of Standards". www.osapublishing.org. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  9. ↑ Garton, W. P. S.; Martin, W. C. (1991-06-01). "C. M. Sitterly (1898 - 3 March 1990)". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. 32: 209–210. Bibcode:1991QJRAS..32..209G. ISSN 0035-8738.
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