Cora Gertrude Burwell (June 25, 1883 – June 20, 1982) was an American astronomical researcher specialized in stellar spectroscopy. She was based at Mount Wilson Observatory from 1907 to 1949.

Early life

Cora Gertrude Burwell was born in Massachusetts and raised in

Stafford Springs, Connecticut Stafford Springs is a census-designated place located in Stafford, Connecticut. The population was 4,988 at the 2010 Census. The village was a borough until November 1991, when it was disincorporated. Located near the source of the Willimantic R ...

. She graduated from

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

in 1906 and was active in Holyoke alumnae activities in the Los Angeles area.

Career

In July, 1907, Burwell was appointed to a " human computer" position at Mount Wilson Observatory. In 1910, she attended the fourth conference of the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research, when it was held at Mount Wilson. Burwell specialized in stellar spectroscopy. She was solo author on some scientific publications, and co-authored several others (some of which she was lead author), with notable collaborators including Dorrit Hoffleit,

Henrietta Swope Henrietta Hill Swope (October 26, 1902 – November 24, 1980) was an American astronomer who studied variable stars. In particular, she measured the period-luminosity relation for Cepheid stars, which are bright variable stars whose periods of va ...

Walter S. Adams Walter Sydney Adams (December 20, 1876 – May 11, 1956) was an American astronomer. Life and work Adams was born in Antioch, Turkey, to Lucien Harper Adams and Nancy Dorrance Francis Adams, missionary parents, and was brought to the U.S. in ...

, and

Paul W. Merrill Paul Willard Merrill (August 15, 1887 – July 19, 1961) was an American astronomer whose specialty was spectroscopy. He was the first to define S-type stars in 1922. Career He received his Ph.D. at the University of California (now UC Berkeley) ...

. With Merrill she compiled several catalogs of Be stars, in 1933, 1943, 1949, and 1950. She also helped to tend the Mount Wilson Observatory Library. She retired from the observatory in 1949, but continued speaking about astronomy to community groups. She also published a book of poetry, ''Neatly Packed.''

Personal life

Cora Burwell lived in Pasadena, and later in Monrovia with her sister, Priscilla Burwell. She died in 1982, two days before her 99th birthday, in Los Angeles.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burwell, Cora G. 1883 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American women scientists Human computers Mount Holyoke College alumni American women astronomers People from Stafford Springs, Connecticut Scientists from Massachusetts Scientists from Connecticut 20th-century American astronomers Spectroscopists