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Plate Series

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Plates are cataloged by plate series and plate number. Each series typically represents a single telescope although some series, notably the "mb" series consists of data from multiple telescopes. Telescopes were occasionally moved to other observatories...

PHaEDRA Finding List

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Harvard College Observatory observations, logs, instrument readings, and calculations, 1750-1990 Note: The effort to digitize this collection is ongoing; not all volumes will have viewable PDFs at this time. Last updated: 11/16/2023 Descriptive Summary...

Event Recordings

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Explore recorded events here.

Bibliography

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Plate Stacks | DASCH | Women Astronomical Computers | Project PHaEDRA

Previous Events and Programs

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The Harvard Plate Stacks organizes various events and programs for the public throughout the year. We also like to feature events put on by other groups that highlight our collection and the history of Women Astronomical Computers. To see upcoming events...

Annie Jump Cannon

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Annie Jump Cannon (December 11, 1863 – April 13, 1941) was a deaf American astronomer whose cataloging work was instrumental in the development of contemporary stellar classification. With Edward C. Pickering, she is credited with the creation of the...

Observatories

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The Harvard College Observatory plates come from a network of observatories in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, which provided full coverage of both celestial hemispheres. Below is a list of the known telescope locations where plates were made...

The glass universe : how the ladies of the Harvard Observatory took the measure of the stars

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In the mid-nineteenth century, the Harvard College Observatory began employing women as calculators, or "human computers," to interpret the observations their male counterparts made via telescope each night. At the outset this group included the wives...

Plate Stacks Collection Timeline

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This extensive timeline specifically includes dates associated with the Harvard Plate Stacks and individuals associated with it. It has been created and expanded for the over a decade. We will work to include citations for the dates in the future, but for...

Victoria Burge

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Williamina Fleming

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Williamina Paton Fleming (May 15, 1857 – May 21, 1911) was a Scottish astronomer and the first Curator of Astronomical Photographs. She worked at the Harvard College Observatory from 1881 until hear death in 1911. Her sister Johanna Mackie also worked at...

Bibliography of Women in Astronomy

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In support of women’s history research, this bibliography was compiled to cover major secondary and scholarly works written about women in astronomy, as well as listing memoirs written by women in astronomy. These bibliographies are living documents that...