Henrietta Swan Leavitt
my 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
my 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.