# Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ![Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin](/sites/g/files/omnuum2761/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/copy_of_cpg_plates-37.jpg?itok=3mcg34H3) Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin in group photograph of the Fourth IAU General Assembly, taken September, 1932. Harvard Plate Stacks.**Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin** (1900-1979) was a British–American astronomer associated with the Women Astronomical Computers, a group of female astronomers and analysts at Harvard College Observatory (HCO). She discovered the chemical composition of stars and, in particular, that hydrogen and helium are the most abundant elements in stars. From star spectra, she determined stellar temperatures and chemical abundances using the thermal ionization equations of Meghnad Saha. Her work was of fundamental importance in the development of the field of stellar atmospheres, and her observations and analyses of variable stars laid the foundation for their use as indicators of galactic structure. Read on for stories about Cecilia's [life](/cecilia-payne-gaposchkin/education-and-doctoral-thesis), [work process](/cecilia-payne-gaposchkin/stellar-spectra-and-quantum-mechanics), and [contributions to science](/cecilia-payne-gaposchkin/work-process-and-continuing-impact)! Select Publications Research Resources Popular Media & Commemoration ## Select Publications Payne, Cecilia H. 1925. “Stellar Atmospheres: A Contribution to the Observational Study of High Temperature in the Reversing Layers of Stars.” Ph.D. thesis. . Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia. 1964. *The Galactic Novae*. In *New York: Dover Publication*. . Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia. 1971. “The Variable Stars of the Large Magellanic Cloud.” *Smithsonian Contributions to Astrophysics* 13 (January). . ## Research Resources Open all sections Close all sections ### Primary Sources expand\_more ### Autobiography Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin first published her autobiography in 1979. This edition was self-published and has a comb-binding. In 1984, her autobiography was republished by Cambridge University Press, edited by Katherine Haramundanis, her daughter, and retitled "*Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin : An Autobiography and Other Recollections."* In 1996, Cambridge University Press printed a second edition by the same title, which is the most widely available. Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia. 1979. *The Dyer’s Hand: An Autobiography*. \[Privately printed.\] [HOLLIS Record](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990022843360203941/catalog). [WorldCat Record](https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/24007879). Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia, and Katherine Haramundanis. 1984. *Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin : An Autobiography and Other Recollections*. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. [HOLLIS Record](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990011571980203941/catalog). [WorldCat Record](https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/9394605). Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia, and Katherine Haramundanis. 1996. *Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin : An Autobiography and Other Recollections*. 2nd ed. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. [HOLLIS Record](< Cambridge University Press.>). [WorldCat Record](https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/33281965). ### PhAEDRA Notebooks [Harvard College Observatory observations, logs, instrument readings, and calculations](https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/catalog/wol00001) Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Notebooks, 1924-1929 Collection Identifier: KG11365-6 ### Archival Resources See [here for Oral history interviews](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/99156333752603941/catalog) from four female astronomers at the Harvard College Observatory, including Payne-Gaposchkin. A Search of “Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin” in Hollis for Archival Discovery: Papers of Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin, 1924, circa 1950s-1990s, 2000. Harvard University Archives: HUGB P182.XX. [Online Finding Aid](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/hua03004/catalog). ***Note**: This archival collection includes letters that are inaccessible until 2056. Access to the pamphlet folder, "The Dyer's Hand,* 1979," *the accordion folder of "Ceclia Payne-Gaposchkin: an autobiography and other recollections,* 1996" and the *pamphlet folder, "Biographical Materials," requires the permission of the Harvard University Archives. The items listed under "*Needlepoint of supernova CAS-A, digital images, circa 1960" are digital images/files only, and Harvard does not hold the physical materials. [Margaret Harwood Papers, 1902-1974](https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/catalog/sch00619); item description, dates. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University: 79-M62--2007-M228. - See Folder: Correspondence: Gaposchkin, Cecilia Payne. 79-M62--2007-M228, 50., Carton: 2. Dorrit Hoffleit Papers, 1906-2005; item description, dates. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University: MC 529. - See Folder: Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia H.: articles and correspondence, 1961-1996. E. Dorrit Hoffleit Papers. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library: MS 1915. [Online](https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/3778)[ Finding Aid and Digitized Materials](https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.1915). - See multiple folders and files related to female astronomers. [**Records of Radcliffe College President Wilbur Kitchener Jordan, 1943-1960**](https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/catalog/sch00396) COLLECTION Identifier: RG II, Series 3 “Official Radcliffe correspondence, reports, minutes, etc., of W.K. (Wilbur Kitchener) Jordan, college administrator, educator, and fourth president of Radcliffe College.” 1949-1950: G. ITEM — Box: 27 Identifier: RG II, Series 3, 288. “Maria Gallison re: portrait of her husband; Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin's undefined status on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Graduate School Fund Drive.” 1956-1957: Graduate center. ITEM — Box: 60 Identifier: RG II, Series 3, 669. “Dedication including remarks by Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin; Graduate School Business.” 1949-1950: Alu-Ax. ITEM — Box: 26 Identifier: RG II, Series 3, 270 Alumnae Association; Anglo-American Historical Conference in England; Appointment Bureau; Astronomy includes correspondence with Fred Whipple re: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin's experimental changes in the content of Astronomy 1 at Radcliffe. *Research note - parts of this collection are currently restricted and closed to research.* [**Records of the Harvard College Observatory Director Donald H. Menzel**](https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/catalog/hua23020) COLLECTION Identifier: UAV 630.37 Research Note: This collection contains several correspondence items between Menzel and Payne-Gaposchkin and her husband, Sergei. Parts of this collection are closed to researchers without special permission. G, 1956 ITEM — Box: 22, Folder: 1 Includes correspondence with...astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, and astrophysicist Sergei I. Gaposchkin. It also contains a press release announcing the appointment of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin as Professor of Astronomy and includes a photograph of her. [**Records of Harvard College Observatory Director Harlow Shapley**](https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/catalog/hua40018) COLLECTION Identifier: UAV 630.22 1930-1940 correspondence, 1921-1950 “This subseries contains correspondence between Shapley and a variety of correspondents, including astronomers from the United States and abroad, such as Walter Sydney Adams, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, and Sergei Gaposchkin…” Gabba-Garbedian, 1922-1934 ITEM — Box: 7, Folder: 4 “Contains correspondence with….astronomer and astrophysicist Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin…” \[Bound volume\], July-December 1923 ITEM — Box: 109 “….Topics of discussion include Observatory equipment, the Annals of the Harvard College Observatory publication, Observatory staff members, Shapley's involvement with the American Association of Variable Star Observers, the employment of Cecilia Payne (Gaposchkin), and news from the Boyden Station Observatory in Arequipa, Peru.” Gaposchkin, Cecilia Payne- and Sergei, 1931-1941 ITEM — Box: 32, Folder: 6 Correspondence between Shapley and the Payne-Gaposchkins. Conant, James B., 1933-1937 ITEM — Box: 27, Folder: 2 “…and a letter from Shapley recommending the appointment of Annie Jump Cannon to the position of William Cranch Bond Astronomer and Curator of Astronomical Photographs and Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin as Phillips Astronomer.” Gaposchkin, Cecilia Payne and Sergei, 1942-1950 ITEM — Box: 66, Folder: 8 Correspondence between Shapley and the Payne-Gaposchkin’s. [**Records of the Harvard College Observatory Director Leo Goldberg**](https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/catalog/hua38022) COLLECTION Identifier: UAV 630.38.5 Correspondence with staff, faculty, and others, 1960-1969 “…There are also letters with several of the Observatory’s female astronomers, including Barbara Bell, Helen Spence Federer, Margaret N. Lewis, *Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin*, Dorothy Weeks, and Frances Woodworth Wright, as well as other female employees, such as Lyle G. Boyd and Thomasine Brooks.” [**Records of Harvard College Observatory Boyden Station, Bloemfontein, South Africa**](https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/catalog/hua24014) Collection Identifier: UAV 630.110.xx Correspondence from Boyden Station, 1927-1954 “...the letters are written by newly appointed superintendent Henry J. Smith and his wife, astronomer Elske van Panhuys Smith, to a variety of Observatory employees, including Bart J. Bok, Sybil L. Chubb, Donald Menzel, Margaret Olmsted, and *Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin*.” Correspondence, 1954 ITEM — Box: UAV 630.110.21 Box 3, Folder: 12 “...Contains correspondence from Boyden Station superintendent Henry Smith to employees at the Harvard College Observatory, including Bart J. Bok, Sybil L. Chubb, Margaret Olmsted, and *Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin*.” ### Secondary Sources expand\_more ### Biographies Moore, Donovan. 2020. *What Stars Are Made of : The Life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin*. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. [HOLLIS Record](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/99153849190803941/catalog). [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/1137825560). Boyd, Sylvia L. 2014. *Portrait of a Binary : The Lives of Cecilia Payne and Sergei Gaposchkin*. Rockland, ME: Penobscot Press. [HOLLIS Record](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990141120960203941/catalog). [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/894362090). Sobel, Dava. 2016. *The Glass Universe : How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars*. New York, New York: Viking. [HOLLIS Record](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990148324220203941/catalog). [WorldCat Record](https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/952469237). ### Childrens Book Larson, Kirsten W, and Katherine Roy. 2023. *The Fire of Stars : The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of*. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. [HOLLIS Record](< Chronicle Books.>). [WorldCat Record](https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/1310469126). ### Biographic & Encyclopedic Sources expand\_more Gregersen, E. "Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin." *Encyclopedia Britannica*, May 6, 2025. . McGrath, Alex. “Cecilia and Sergei: American Astronomers.” Web log. *Galactic Gazette* (blog). John G. Wolbach Library, August 24, 2022. [Zenodo Link](https://zenodo.org/records/8336274/files/cecilia-and-sergei-american-astronomers.pdf?download=1). Williams, Richard. “This Month in Physics History | American Physical Society: January 1, 1925: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and the Day the Universe Changed.” APS News. January 2015. . Wayman, Patrick A. 2002. “Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin: Astronomer Extraordinaire.” *Astronomy & Geophysics : The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society* 43 (1): 1.27-1.29. . [HOLLIS Record](https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1mdq5o5/TN_cdi_crossref_primary_10_1046_j_1468_4004_2002_43127_x). [ADS Record](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022cosl.book.....W). Soter, Steven, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. “Cecilia Payne and the Composition of the Stars.” American Museum of Natural History. Cosmic Horizons Curriculum Collection, 2000. . "Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin". HowStuffWorks.com. <. Wikipedia. "Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia\_Payne-Gaposchkin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Payne-Gaposchkin). ## Popular Media & Commemoration [Patera on Venus](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4623) named for her [Minor Planet/Asteroid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2039_Payne-Gaposchkin) named for her [The Lightest Element](https://search.worldcat.org/title/1543538960), the 2024 theatrical play by Stella Feehily about Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin set in the 1950's.