Cecilia Payne

Question 1

What are the stars made of? The answer to this fundamental question of astrophysics was discovered in ___________ by Cecilia Payne and explained in her Ph.D. thesis. Payne showed how to decode the complicated spectra of starlight in order to learn the relative amounts of the chemical elements in the stars. In 1960 the distinguished astronomer Otto Struve referred to this work as “the most brilliant Ph.D. thesis ever written in astronomy.”

https://www.amnh.org/explore/resource-collections/cosmic-horizons/profile-cecilia-payne-and-the-composition-of-the-stars

Answer 1

1925

Question 2

What are the stars made of? The answer to this fundamental question of astrophysics was discovered in 1925 by ___________ and explained in her Ph.D. thesis. Payne showed how to decode the complicated spectra of starlight in order to learn the relative amounts of the chemical elements in the stars. In 1960 the distinguished astronomer Otto Struve referred to this work as “the most brilliant Ph.D. thesis ever written in astronomy.”

https://www.amnh.org/explore/resource-collections/cosmic-horizons/profile-cecilia-payne-and-the-composition-of-the-stars

Answer 2

Cecilia Payne

Question 3

What are the stars made of? The answer to this fundamental question of astrophysics was discovered in 1925 by Cecilia Payne and explained in her _________. Payne showed how to decode the complicated spectra of starlight in order to learn the relative amounts of the chemical elements in the stars. In 1960 the distinguished astronomer Otto Struve referred to this work as “the most brilliant _____________ ever written in astronomy.”

https://www.amnh.org/explore/resource-collections/cosmic-horizons/profile-cecilia-payne-and-the-composition-of-the-stars

Answer 3

Ph.D. thesis