Henrietta Swan Leavitt portrait
This is a first edition lino block print in lavender-silver and gold ink on Japanese kozo paper (10" by 12.5"). The first edition is a run of 6 prints. It is a portrait of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, shown with a line indicating luminosity oscillating with time in lavender-silver. This is printed over constellations in gold (Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Draco, Ursa Minor and Andromeda).
Henrietta Swan Leavitt (July 4, 1868 – December 12, 1921) was an American astronomer, hired to count images on photographic plates as a menial "computer". In studying these plates, in 1908 she was able to deduce a ground-breaking theory, which allowed Hubble's later insight about expansion of the universe. Her period-luminosity relation of Cepheid variables radically changed the theory of modern astronomy, an accomplishment for which she received almost no recognition during her lifetime.
Cepheid variables are a class of pulsating star. They are named for the star Delta Cephei in the Cepheus constellation. The relationship between a Cepheid variable's luminosity and pulsation period is quite precise, securing Cepheids as viable standard candles and the foundation of the Extragalactic Distance Scale.
Henrietta Swan Leavitt portrait
This is a first edition lino block print in lavender-silver and gold ink on Japanese kozo paper (10" by 12.5"). The first edition is a run of 6 prints. It is a portrait of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, shown with a line indicating luminosity oscillating with time in lavender-silver. This is printed over constellations in gold (Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Draco, Ursa Minor and Andromeda).
Henrietta Swan Leavitt (July 4, 1868 – December 12, 1921) was an American astronomer, hired to count images on photographic plates as a menial "computer". In studying these plates, in 1908 she was able to deduce a ground-breaking theory, which allowed Hubble's later insight about expansion of the universe. Her period-luminosity relation of Cepheid variables radically changed the theory of modern astronomy, an accomplishment for which she received almost no recognition during her lifetime.
Cepheid variables are a class of pulsating star. They are named for the star Delta Cephei in the Cepheus constellation. The relationship between a Cepheid variable's luminosity and pulsation period is quite precise, securing Cepheids as viable standard candles and the foundation of the Extragalactic Distance Scale.