Williamina was born in Dundee, the daughter of a carver and gilder with premises in the Nethergate. She left school when she was 14 and became a pupil-teacher.
#WomeninScience
#WomeninScience
In 1877, Williamina married James Orr Fleming, an accountant and fellow Dundonian. She worked as a teacher for a short while, before the couple emigrated to America (specifically Boston, Massachusetts) when Williamina was 21.
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
Unfortunately, Williamina's husband left her during her pregnancy and she was then forced to support herself and her new child. She searched and found work as a maid at the home of Edward Pickering, Director of the Harvard College Observatory.
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
Pickering's wife Lizzie recommended Williamina as having talents outwith her usual duties and in 1879 Pickering hired Fleming to conduct part-time administrative work at the observatory.
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
Williamina quickly became a fulltime copyist and 'computer' at the observatory — 'computer' was then the word for someone who analysed information.
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
At that time Pickering had just embarked on an extensive program of celestial photography. Williamina's job involved examining spectra — the breakdown of light from stars — on photographic plates.
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
Pickering's technique involved placing a prism in front of the telescope lens to capture the spectral image from each star. In Williamina's day, the spectra on photographic plates would appear in light or dark bands like in this image.
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
@Harvard Each star has its own distinctive light spectrum and the lines on the spectrum indicate chemical composition. In this way, astronomers were (and are) able to gain a lot of information on the properties of any star including its temperature.
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
@Harvard By the time of her death in 1911, Williamina had handled over 200,000 fragile plates and discovered a total of 59 gaseous nebulae, over 310 variable stars, and 10 novae.
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
@Harvard Most notably, Williamina discovered the stunning Horsehead Nebula in 1888.
(📷 > en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsehead…)
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
(📷 > en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsehead…)
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
@Harvard @WomenScienceDay @NASAJPL @CenterForAstro Williamina received recognition for her work and became the leading female astronomer of her day. She was made an honorary member of the @RoyalAstroSoc in 1906, and was presented with a medal by the Astronomical Society of Mexico.
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
@Harvard @WomenScienceDay @NASAJPL @CenterForAstro @RoyalAstroSoc We have lots more info about Williamina Fleming (and other Scottish women of science) in our learning resource > nls.uk/learning-zone/…
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
@Harvard @WomenScienceDay @NASAJPL @CenterForAstro @RoyalAstroSoc Thanks for reading this wee thread and happy #WomenInScienceDay 🤗
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
@Harvard @WomenScienceDay @NASAJPL @CenterForAstro @RoyalAstroSoc Eeek - looks like the link doesn't work - this should, though > nls.uk/learning-zone/…
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
@Harvard @WomenScienceDay @NASAJPL @CenterForAstro @RoyalAstroSoc PS - more stars at the same place > this is also worth a watch (kudos @j_dunkley) >
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
