Jump to content

Talk:Margaret Harwood

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit]

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Margaret Harwood.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for March 19, 2023. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2023-03-19. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE
) 22:59, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Margaret Harwood

Margaret Harwood (March 19, 1885 – February 6, 1979) was an American astronomer who specialized in photometry, which involved measuring variation in the light of stars and asteroids. In 1916, at 30 years old, Harwood was named director of Maria Mitchell Observatory, and worked there until her retirement in 1957. In 1917, she discovered the asteroid 886 Washingtonia four days before its formal recognition, but was advised not to report it because it would have been inappropriate for a woman to do so. In 1923, she became the first woman to gain access to the Mount Wilson Observatory, and in 1924 was the first woman allowed to use the observatory's 60-inch telescope, the largest in the world at the time. In 1960, an asteroid discovered at Palomar was named in her honor as 7040 Harwood. This photograph of Harwood is in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution.

Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden