Annie Jump Cannon Research Paper

Born on December 11th, 1863, Annie Jump Cannon was born to parents Wilson and Mary Jump Cannon in Dover, Delaware. Annie Cannon was the eldest of three daughters of the Cannon family. However, at a young age, Annie’s mother taught her the constellations which stimulated her interest in Astronomy. With such a passionate interest in Astronomy, Annie studied physics and astronomy at Wellesley and learned to make spectroscopic measurements ultimately leading to her becoming the Valedictorian of her graduating class. While in college, Cannon studied under Sarah Whiting, one of the few women physicists in the country, which stood as the connection between Cannon and Edward Pickering who was close friends with Whiting.
Following graduation, Cannon passed time by becoming a junior physics teacher preceding the death of her mother in 1894. As she wanted to stay true with her passion, she became a member of “Pickering’s Women” …show more content…
Her principle area of research surrounded the observation of the spectra the was first seen by Williamina Fleming, which composed of 10,000 stars and a classification system containing 22 classes, and later by Antonia Maury who based her work from Fleming but just created her own classifications. With this information, Annie began to examine the southern hemisphere stars. After recording what she saw in these spectra, she sent telescopes, equipment, and people to South America and South Africa to produce a collection of plates of the southern sky. With the advance in technology as compared to what Fleming and Maury were exposed to, Cannon was able to examine the highest quality plates seeing lines that others were not able to see. These new

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