Space

How a Harvard maverick forever changed our concept of the stars

She didn’t receive credit for her discovery for years, but that’s changing

A black and white photograph of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, the British-American astronomer and Harvard professor who used spectral analysis to determine the composition of stars.

Despite her work’s impact, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (pictured at Harvard College Observatory) had not received adequate appreciation for decades.

Smithsonian Institution Archives/Science Service Records

By Elise Cutts

Astronomy is the oldest science, and the sky is among our first laboratories.