Antonia Maury
Encyclopedia
Antonia Caetana de Paiva Pereira Maury (March 21, 1866–January 8, 1952) was an American
astronomer
who published an important early catalog of stellar spectra.
. She was named in honor of her direct ancestress, Antonia Caetana de Pravia Pereia of a noble family that had to flee Portugal to Brazil because of Napoleon Bonaparte's wars. Some of that royal family was imprisoned by Napoleon.
(a source "America Is People and Ideas" by Dorothy Myers Peed)
(a source Henry Draper
and John William Draper
Wikipedia articles.
Antonia's father was the Reverend Mytton Maury, a direct descendant of the Reverend James Maury
(who fathered 13 children) and one of the sons of Sarah Mytton Maury
who married William Maury and had 11 children and was also the authoress of "Statesmen of America".
Antonia Maury's mother was Virginia Draper, a daughter of Antonia Coetana de Pravia Pereia and Dr. John William Draper
.
(a source "America Is People and Ideas" by Dorothy Myers Peed)
Reverend Mytton Maury is a descendant of Reverend James Maury
who fathered 13 children and a kinsman of Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury
of the United States Naval Observatory
who is a grandson of the Reverend James Maury
.
Rev. Mytton Maury, minister and naturalist, married Virginia Draper and had three children,
Antonia Maury was the granddaughter of John William Draper
and niece of Henry Draper
, both pioneering astronomers.
, graduating in 1887. She was employed at Harvard College Observatory
, where she observed stellar spectra and published a catalogue of classifications in 1897 (Spectra of Bright Stars Photographed with the 11-inch Draper Telescope as part of the Henry Draper Memorial, Annals of Harvard College Observatory, vol. 28, pp. 1-128).
When the director of HCO at the time, Edward Charles Pickering
, disagreed with Maury’s system of classification and explanation of differing line widths, she left Harvard College Observatory. However, Ejnar Hertzsprung
realized the value of her classifications and used them in his system of identifying giant and dwarf stars.
In 1908, Antonia Maury returned to Harvard College Observatory where she remained for many years. Her most famous work there was the spectroscopic analysis of the binary star
Beta Lyrae
, published in 1933 (The Spectral Changes of Beta Lyrae, Annals of Harvard College Observatory, vol. 84, no. 8).
by the American Astronomical Society
. The lunar crater Maury
is shared with and was co-named for Antonia Maury with it having previously been named only for her cousin, Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury, United States Navy. It is, perhaps, the only lunar crater shared by two cousins.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
who published an important early catalog of stellar spectra.
Early life
Antonia Maury was born in Cold Spring, New YorkCold Spring, New York
Cold Spring is a village located in the Town of Philipstown in Putnam County, New York. The population was 1,983 at the 2000 census. It borders the smaller village of Nelsonville...
. She was named in honor of her direct ancestress, Antonia Caetana de Pravia Pereia of a noble family that had to flee Portugal to Brazil because of Napoleon Bonaparte's wars. Some of that royal family was imprisoned by Napoleon.
(a source "America Is People and Ideas" by Dorothy Myers Peed)
(a source Henry Draper
Henry Draper
Henry Draper was an American doctor and amateur astronomer. He is best known today as a pioneer of astrophotography.-Life and work:...
and John William Draper
John William Draper
John William Draper was an American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian, and photographer. He is credited with producing the first clear photograph of a female face and the first detailed photograph of the Moon...
Wikipedia articles.
Antonia's father was the Reverend Mytton Maury, a direct descendant of the Reverend James Maury
James Maury
The Reverend James Maury was a prominent Virginia educator and minister during the American Colonial period.He was the son of Matthew Maury, a French Huguenot, who was born in Castel Mauron, in Gascony, and his wife, Mary Anne Fontaine, daughter of Rev. James Fontaine and Anne Elizabeth...
(who fathered 13 children) and one of the sons of Sarah Mytton Maury
Sarah Mytton Maury
Sarah Mytton Maury was an English authoress, born in Liverpool to Bridgit Nelson and William Hughes. Sarah had a sister named Elizabeth Hughes who lived in the United States...
who married William Maury and had 11 children and was also the authoress of "Statesmen of America".
Antonia Maury's mother was Virginia Draper, a daughter of Antonia Coetana de Pravia Pereia and Dr. John William Draper
John William Draper
John William Draper was an American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian, and photographer. He is credited with producing the first clear photograph of a female face and the first detailed photograph of the Moon...
.
(a source "America Is People and Ideas" by Dorothy Myers Peed)
Reverend Mytton Maury is a descendant of Reverend James Maury
James Maury
The Reverend James Maury was a prominent Virginia educator and minister during the American Colonial period.He was the son of Matthew Maury, a French Huguenot, who was born in Castel Mauron, in Gascony, and his wife, Mary Anne Fontaine, daughter of Rev. James Fontaine and Anne Elizabeth...
who fathered 13 children and a kinsman of Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury
Matthew Fontaine Maury
Matthew Fontaine Maury , United States Navy was an American astronomer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator....
of the United States Naval Observatory
United States Naval Observatory
The United States Naval Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, with a primary mission to produce Positioning, Navigation, and Timing for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense...
who is a grandson of the Reverend James Maury
James Maury
The Reverend James Maury was a prominent Virginia educator and minister during the American Colonial period.He was the son of Matthew Maury, a French Huguenot, who was born in Castel Mauron, in Gascony, and his wife, Mary Anne Fontaine, daughter of Rev. James Fontaine and Anne Elizabeth...
.
Rev. Mytton Maury, minister and naturalist, married Virginia Draper and had three children,
- John William Draper Maury who became a doctor
- Antonia Caetana de Pravia Pereia Maury
- Carlotta Jaquina Maury (gained prominence in Palentology -- - "Carlotta Jaquina Maury - American Palentologist"
Antonia Maury was the granddaughter of John William Draper
John William Draper
John William Draper was an American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian, and photographer. He is credited with producing the first clear photograph of a female face and the first detailed photograph of the Moon...
and niece of Henry Draper
Henry Draper
Henry Draper was an American doctor and amateur astronomer. He is best known today as a pioneer of astrophotography.-Life and work:...
, both pioneering astronomers.
Astronomical work
Antonia Maury was educated at Vassar CollegeVassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, graduating in 1887. She was employed at Harvard College Observatory
Harvard College Observatory
The Harvard College Observatory is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and was founded in 1839...
, where she observed stellar spectra and published a catalogue of classifications in 1897 (Spectra of Bright Stars Photographed with the 11-inch Draper Telescope as part of the Henry Draper Memorial, Annals of Harvard College Observatory, vol. 28, pp. 1-128).
When the director of HCO at the time, Edward Charles Pickering
Edward Charles Pickering
Edward Charles Pickering was an American astronomer and physicist, brother of William Henry Pickering.Along with Carl Vogel, Pickering discovered the first spectroscopic binary stars. He wrote Elements of Physical Manipulations .Pickering attended Boston Latin School, and received his B.S. from...
, disagreed with Maury’s system of classification and explanation of differing line widths, she left Harvard College Observatory. However, Ejnar Hertzsprung
Ejnar Hertzsprung
Ejnar Hertzsprung was a Danish chemist and astronomer.Hertzsprung was born in Copenhagen. In the period 1911–1913, together with Henry Norris Russell, he developed the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram....
realized the value of her classifications and used them in his system of identifying giant and dwarf stars.
In 1908, Antonia Maury returned to Harvard College Observatory where she remained for many years. Her most famous work there was the spectroscopic analysis of the binary star
Binary star
A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
Beta Lyrae
Beta Lyrae
Beta Lyrae is a binary star system approximately 882 light-years away in the constellation Lyra. Beta Lyrae has the traditional name Sheliak , from الشلياق šiliyāq, the Arabic name of the constellation Lyra.Beta Lyrae is an eclipsing semi-detached binary system made up of a B7II primary star and...
, published in 1933 (The Spectral Changes of Beta Lyrae, Annals of Harvard College Observatory, vol. 84, no. 8).
Awards
In 1943, Antonia Maury was awarded the Annie Jump Cannon Award in AstronomyAnnie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy
The Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy is awarded annually by the American Astronomical Society to a woman resident of North America, who is within five years of receipt of a Ph.D., for distinguished contributions to astronomy or for similar contributions in related sciences which have immediate...
by the American Astronomical Society
American Astronomical Society
The American Astronomical Society is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC...
. The lunar crater Maury
Maury (crater)
Maury is a small lunar impact crater named for two cousins. It was first named in honor of Lieutenant Matthew Fontaine Maury of the U. S. Naval Observatory and later shared to honor Antonia Maury of Harvard College Observatory. The crater lies in the northeastern part of the Moon, just to the east...
is shared with and was co-named for Antonia Maury with it having previously been named only for her cousin, Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury, United States Navy. It is, perhaps, the only lunar crater shared by two cousins.
Sources
- "America Is People and Ideas" by Dorothy Myers Peed
- "Maury Family Tree" by Sue C. West-Teague (former U.S.N.)
- Antonia Maury Vassar alumnae magazine, v.37, March 1952
- Maury, Antonia Caetana De Paiva Pereira (1866-1952), astronomer. American Women In Science. Santa Barbara, Calif. 1994. p. 240-241 by Martha J. Bailey
- Gingerich, Owen. Maury, Antonia Caetana de Paiva Pereira. Dictionary of Scientific Biography. v.9. New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1974. p. 194-195.
- Antonia Caetania [sic] Maury, 1866-1952. The Remarkable Lives of 100 Women Healers and Scientists. Holbrook, Mass., B. Adams, 1994. (20th century women series) p. 138-139.
- Hoffleit, Dorrit. Antonia C. Maury. Sky and Telescope, v. 11, Mar. 1952: 106. port.
- Hoffleit, Dorrit. Maury, Antonia Caetana De Paiva Pereira. Notable American Women, the Modern Period. Edited by Barbara Sicherman, Carold Hurd Green, with Ilene Kantrov, Harriette Walker. Cambridge, Mass., Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1980. p. 464-466.
- Larsen, Kristine M. Antonia Maury (1866-1952), astronomer. Notable Women in the Physical Sciences, a Biographical Dictionary. Edited by Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer. Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press, 1997. p. 255-259.
- Maury, Antonia Coetana [sic] In Woman's Who's Who of America. 1914-1915. John William Leonard, editor-in-chief. New York, American Commonwealth Co. [1914] p. 550.
External links
- Antonia Caetana de Paiva Pereira Maury - Vassar College Encyclopedia - Vassar College
- Bibliography from the Astronomical Society of the PacificAstronomical Society of the PacificThe Astronomical Society of the Pacific is a scientific and educational organization, founded in San Francisco on February 7, 1889. Its name derives from its origins on the Pacific Coast, but today it has members all over the country and the world...