Cora G. Burwell

Cora G. Burwell
An older white woman, smiling, wearing glasses.
Cora G. Burwell, from a 1949 newspaper
Born(1883-06-25)June 25, 1883
Massachusetts, US
DiedJune 20, 1982(1982-06-20) (aged 98)
Los Angeles, California, US
Alma materMount Holyoke College (BA)
Known forInterpretation of stellar spectral data
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
InstitutionsMount Wilson Observatory

Cora Gertrude Burwell (June 25, 1883 – June 20, 1982) was an American astronomical researcher specialized in stellar spectroscopy. She was based at Mount Wilson Observatory from 1907 to 1949. Burwell compiled several catalogs of Be stars before 1950, and co-authored papers with astronomers Dorrit Hoffleit, Henrietta Hill Swope, Walter Sydney Adams, Milton L. Humason, and Paul W. Merrill.

Early life

Cora Gertrude Burwell was born in Massachusetts and raised in Stafford Springs, Connecticut.[1] She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1906[2][3] and was active in Holyoke alumnae activities in the Los Angeles area.[4][5]

Career

In July 1907,[6] Burwell was appointed to a "(human) computer" position at Mount Wilson Observatory.[7][8] In 1910, she attended the fourth conference of the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research, when it was held at Mount Wilson.[9] At that event, she and the other women who worked at the observatory served afternoon tea to the women in attendance, including the wives of international visitors Clarence Chant, Alfred Fowler, Arthur Schuster, Herbert Hall Turner, and Nicolae Donici.[10]

Burwell specialized in stellar spectroscopy at Mount Wilson.[2][11] With Paul W. Merrill she compiled several catalogs of Be-type stars,[12] in 1933, 1943, 1949, and 1950.[13] Their work doubled the number of known Be-type stars.[14] She also discovered several novae,[15] and helped to tend the Mount Wilson Observatory Library.[16] She retired from the observatory in 1949,[2][15] but continued speaking about astronomy to community groups. She also published a book of poetry, Neatly Packed.[17]

Publications

Burwell's research was published in scientific journals including Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific,[18][19] The Astrophysical Journal,[20][21][22] and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.[23] She was solo author on some scientific publications,[18][21][24][25][26] and co-authored several others (some of which she was lead author), with notable collaborators including Dorrit Hoffleit,[27] Henrietta Swope,[28] Walter S. Adams,[23] Milton L. Humason,[29] and Paul W. Merrill.[19] She was the only woman author credited in the 1933 Contributions from the Mount Wilson Observatory research publication, in which she co-authored three papers.[29][30][31]

  • Walter S Adams and Cora G Burwell (1915) Results of an Investigation of the Flash Spectrum without an Eclipse. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 1 (3) 127-130. [23]
  • WS Adams, AH Joy, G Strömberg and CG Burwell (1921) The parallaxes of 1646 stars derived by the spectroscopic method Naturwissenschaften 9, 598 (in German)[32]
  • "Discovery and Observation of Stars in Class Be" (1925, with Paul W. Merrill and Milton L. Humason)[33]
  • "Behavior of Bright Lines in the Spectra of Several Long-Period Variable Stars" (1930, with Paul W. Merrill)[20]
  • "Additional Stars of Classes N and S" (1933, with Paul W. Merrill and Roscoe F. Sanford)[34]
  • "Discovery and Observation of Stars in Class Be: Second Paper" (1933, with Paul W. Merrill and Milton L. Humason)[29]
  • "Variations in Structure of the Hydrogen Lines in the Spectrum of H.D. 31293" (1933, with Paul W. Merrill)[30]
  • Paul W. Merrill and Cora G. Burwell (1933) Catalogue and Bibliography of Stars of Classes B and A Whose Spectra Have Bright Hydrogen Lines. The Astrophysical Journal 78 87.[31]
  • "A Nova in Sagittarius (June 1936)" (1937)[18]
  • "Intensities and Displacements of Interstellar Lines" (1937, with Paul W. Merrill, Roscoe F. Sanford, and O. C. Wilson)[35]
  • "Lines of Ionized Barium in Stellar Spectra" (1938)[21]
  • "Minor Solo" (1940, poem)[36]
  • "A Faint Nova in Ophiuchus (July 1940) (1941, with Henrietta Swope)[28]
  • "A Faint Nova in Ophiuchus (June 1939)" (1943, with Dorrit Hoffleit)[27]
  • "Supplement to the Mount Wilson Catalogue and Bibliography of Stars of Classes B and A Whose Spectra Have Bright Hydrogen Lines" (1943, with Paul W. Merrill)[22]
  • "Rapid Outward Motions in the Atmosphere of the Iron Star XX Ophiuchi" (1946, with Paul W. Merrill and William C. Miller)[37]
  • "The Spectrum of Nova Sagittari May 1947" (1947, with Paul W. Merrill and William C. Miller)[19]
  • "Hydrogen Emission in the Spectrum of HD 197419" (1947, with William C. Miller)[38]
  • "Search for Stars with Glowing Hydrogen" (1950)[26]
  • "Additional Stars whose Spectra have a Bright H α Line" (1950, with Paul W. Merrill)[39]
  • "The Astronomer's Most Useful Chart" (1951)[25]
  • "Classifying Stars by their Spectra" (1953)[24]

Personal life

Cora Burwell lived in Pasadena, and later in Monrovia with her sister, Priscilla Burwell.[2] She died in 1982, two days before her 99th birthday, in Los Angeles.[40]

References

  1. ^ Catalogue of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. Mount Holyoke College. 1903. p. 94 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b c d "Caltech Librarian, Astronomer End Long-Time Scientific Whirl". Pasadena Independent. July 1, 1949. p. 12. Retrieved December 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ General Catalogue of Officers and Students of Mount Holyoke College, 1837-1911. Mount Holyoke College. 1911. p. 339 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Entertaining for Visitor from China". The Pasadena Post. September 5, 1925. p. 6. Retrieved December 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Mount Holyoke Club Schedules Spring Meeting". Daily News. April 18, 1951. p. 36. Retrieved December 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Mount Wilson Observatory (1906). Annual Report of the Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory. Carnegie Institution of Washington. p. 137.
  7. ^ Vuong, Zen (October 6, 2015). "These women were 'human computers' before they were allowed to be astronomers". Pasadena Star News. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  8. ^ Sandage, Allan; Brown, Louis; Allan, Sandage (2004). Centennial History of the Carnegie Institution of Washington: Volume 1, The Mount Wilson Observatory: Breaking the Code of Cosmic Evolution. Cambridge University Press. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-521-83078-2.
  9. ^ "International Union for Co-operation in Solar Research". Photographic Archive, The University of Chicago. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  10. ^ "Sky is Studied by Trained Eyes". Los Angeles Herald. September 1, 1910. p. 5 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  11. ^ Adams, Walter S. (1938). "Survey of the Year's Work at Mount Wilson". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 50 (298): 321–331. ISSN 0004-6280.
  12. ^ Tipton, Everett (April 28, 1933). "Science Finds Hottest Stars". San Pedro News Pilot. p. 16. Retrieved December 3, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  13. ^ "Be stars | Shelyak Instruments". Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  14. ^ "Discovery Doubles Number of Known Be-type Stars". Science News Letter. 23 (613): 7. January 7, 1933 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ^ a b Hoffleit, Dorrit (September 1949). "News Notes: The 'Miss Cannon of the West'". Sky and Telescope. 8 (11): 278 – via Internet Archive.
  16. ^ Connor, Elizabeth (June 1950). "The Mount Wilson Observatory Library". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 62 (365): 98–99. Bibcode:1950PASP...62...98C. doi:10.1086/126241.
  17. ^ "Duarte Woman's Club to Honor New Members". Daily News-Post and Monrovia News-Post. January 14, 1950. p. 3. Retrieved December 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b c Burwell, Cora G. (December 1, 1937). "A Nova in Sagittarius (June, 1936)". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 49 (292): 342–343. Bibcode:1937PASP...49..342B. doi:10.1086/124871. ISSN 0004-6280.
  19. ^ a b c Merrill, Paul W.; Burwell, Cora G.; Miller, William C. (August 1, 1947). "The Spectrum of Nova Sagittarii May 1947". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 59 (349): 194. Bibcode:1947PASP...59..194M. doi:10.1086/125950. ISSN 0004-6280.
  20. ^ a b Merrill, Paul W.; Burwell, Cora G. (June 1930). "Behavior of Bright Lines in the Spectra of Several Long Period Variable Stars". The Astrophysical Journal. 71 (5): 285–335 – via Internet Archive.
  21. ^ a b c Burwell, Cora G. (October 1938). "Lines of Ionized Barium in Stellar Spectra". Astrophysical Journal. 88: 278–283. Bibcode:1938ApJ....88..278B. doi:10.1086/143982.
  22. ^ a b Merrill, Paul W.; Burwell, Cora G. (September 1943). "Supplement to the Mount Wilson Catalogue and Bibilography of Stars of Classes B and A Whose Spectra Have Bright Hydrogen Lines". The Astrophysical Journal. 98 (2): 153–184 – via Internet Archive.
  23. ^ a b c Adams, Walter S.; Burwell, Cora G. (1915). "Results of an Investigation of the Flash Spectrum without an Eclipse". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1 (3): 127–130. doi:10.1073/pnas.1.3.127. ISSN 0027-8424. JSTOR 83486. PMC 1090757. PMID 16575960.
  24. ^ a b Burwell, Cora G. (1953). "Classifying Stars by Their Spectra". Leaflet of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 6 (289): 307. Bibcode:1953ASPL....6..307B. ISSN 0004-6272.
  25. ^ a b Burwell, Cora G. (1951). "The Astronomer's Most Useful Chart". Leaflet of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 6 (271): 162. Bibcode:1951ASPL....6..162B. ISSN 0004-6272.
  26. ^ a b Burwell, Cora G. (1950). "Search for Stars with Glowing Hydrogen". Leaflet of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 6 (258): 59. Bibcode:1950ASPL....6...59B. ISSN 0004-6272.
  27. ^ a b Burwell, Cora G.; Hoffleit, Dorrit (August 1, 1943). "A Faint Nova in Ophiuchus (June 1939)". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 55 (325): 194. Bibcode:1943PASP...55..194B. doi:10.1086/125544. ISSN 0004-6280.
  28. ^ a b Burwell, Cora G.; Swope, Henrietta (December 1, 1941). "A Faint Nova in Ophiuchus (July 1940)". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 53 (316): 343. Bibcode:1941PASP...53..343B. doi:10.1086/125374. ISSN 0004-6280.
  29. ^ a b c Merrill, Paul W.; Burwell, Cora G.; Humason, Milton L. (1933). "Discovery and Observation of Stars of Class Be: Second Paper". Contributions from the Mount Wilson Observatory: 137–164 – via Internet Archive.
  30. ^ a b Merrill, Paul W.; Burwell, Cora G. (1933). "Variations in Structure of the Hydrogen Lines in the Spectrum of H.D. 31293". Contributions from the Mount Wilson Observatory: 245–252 – via Internet Archive.
  31. ^ a b Merrill, Paul W.; Burwell, Cora G. (1933). "Catalogue and Bibliography of Stars of Classes B and A Whose Spectra Have Bright Hydrogen Lines". Contributions from the Mount Wilson Observatory: 389–442 – via Internet Archive.
  32. ^ Adams, W. S.; Joy, A. H.; Strömberg, G.; Burwell, C. G. (January 1921). "The parallaxes of 1646 stars derived by the spectroscopic method". The Astrophysical Journal. 53: 13. doi:10.1086/142584. ISSN 0004-637X.
  33. ^ Merrill, Paul W.; Humason, Milton L.; Burwell, Cora G. (June 1925). "Discovery and Observation of Stars of Class Be". The Astrophysical Journal. 61 (5): 389–417 – via Internet Archive.
  34. ^ Merrill, P. W.; Sanford, R. F.; Burwell, Cora G. (December 1933). "Additional Stars of Classes N and S". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 45: 306. doi:10.1086/124381. ISSN 0004-6280.
  35. ^ Merrill, Paul W.; Sanford, Roscoe F.; Wilson, O. C.; Burwell, Cora G. (October 1937). "Intensities and Displacements of Interstellar Lines". The Astrophysical Journal. 86: 274. doi:10.1086/143866. ISSN 0004-637X.
  36. ^ Burwell, Cora G. (July 15, 1940). "Minor Solo". Unity. 125 (10): 158 – via Internet Archive.
  37. ^ Merrill, Paul W.; Burwell, Cora G.; Miller, William C. (October 1946). "Rapid Outward Motions in the Atmosphere of the Iron Star XX Ophiuchi". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 58: 302. doi:10.1086/125853. ISSN 0004-6280.
  38. ^ Miller, William C., and Cora G. Burwell. "Hydrogen Emission in the Spectrum of HD 197419." Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 59, no. 346 (1947): 28.
  39. ^ Merrill, Paul W.; Burwell, Cora G. (June 1950). "Additional Stars whose Spectra have a Bright H α Line". The Astrophysical Journal. 112: 72. doi:10.1086/145319. ISSN 0004-637X.
  40. ^ Year Book 81, 1981–1982. Carnegie Institution of Washington. December 1982. p. 32. ISBN 0872796558. Retrieved February 13, 2026 – via Internet Archive.
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