Henrietta Swan Leavitt

Harvard University Clock Tower - the school at which Leavitt did her research.
Click on image for full size (130K JPEG)
Courtesy of Corel Photography

Henrietta Swan Leavitt was born in Massachusetts in 1868. She became interested in astronomy in college.

Henrietta started working at Harvard's Observatory for 30 cents an hour. Would you like to work as an astronomer?

Henrietta Leavitt made a very important discovery. She discovered a certain type of star called a Cepheid variable.

She died of cancer at age fifty-three. Henrietta Leavitt had a crater of the moon named after her because of all of the important work she did in astronomy.

Read about Williamina Fleming, another woman astronomer

Last modified prior to September, 2000 by the Windows Team

The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). © The Regents of the University of Michigan. Windows to the Universe® is a registered trademark of UCAR. All Rights Reserved. Site policies and disclaimer

Henrietta Swan Leavitt

Harvard University Clock Tower - the school at which Leavitt did her research. Click on image for full size (130K JPEG) Courtesy of Corel Photography

Harvard University Clock Tower - the school at which Leavitt did her research.
Click on image for full size (130K JPEG)
Courtesy of Corel Photography