The Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy is awarded annually by the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

(AAS) to a woman resident of North America, who is within five years of receipt of a PhD, for distinguished contributions to

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

or for similar contributions in related sciences which have immediate application to astronomy. The awardee is invited to give a talk at an AAS meeting and is given a $1,500

honorarium An honorarium is an ''ex gratia'' payment, i.e., a payment made, without the giver recognizing themselves as having any liability or legal obligation, to a person for his or her services in a volunteer capacity or for services for which fees are no ...

.AAS Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy
Retrieved 10 December 2014. The award is named in honor of American astronomer

Annie Jump Cannon Annie Jump Cannon (; December 11, 1863 – April 13, 1941) was an American astronomer whose cataloging work was instrumental in the development of contemporary stellar classification. With Edward C. Pickering, she is credited with the creation of ...

Margaret Burbidge Eleanor Margaret Burbidge, FRS (; 12 August 1919 – 5 April 2020) was a British-American observational astronomer and astrophysicist. In the 1950s, she was one of the founders of stellar nucleosynthesis and was first author of the influentia ...

was due to be given the 1972 award, but she refused it on the grounds of

gender discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...

, stating: "It is high time that discrimination in favor of, as well as against, women in professional life be removed". This prompted the AAS to set up its first committee on the status of women in astronomy and they ceased issuing the award directly. From 1973–2004 the

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...

issued the awards, on advice from the AAS. The AAS resumed direct issuing of the award in 2005.

List of winners

Source
American Astronomical Society

Notes

{{reflist Astronomy prizes

Cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

Awards established in 1934 1934 establishments in the United States American Astronomical Society

List of winners

See also

Notes