Helen Chambliss Williams Lines (July 13, 1918 – January 29, 2001) was an American

amateur astronomer Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers ...

. In her beginnings she was a

deep-sky A deep-sky object (DSO) is any astronomical object that is not an individual star or Solar System object (such as Sun, Moon, planet, comet, etc.). The classification is used for the most part by amateur astronomers to denote visually observed f ...

observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Computer science and information theory * In information theory, any system which receives information from an object * State observer in co ...

and

astrophotographer Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1840, but it was no ...

Astronomy

In 1969, Lines was one of early members of the Phoenix Astronomical Society. Lines was a member of the

American Association of Variable Star Observers The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an international nonprofit organization, founded in 1911, focused on coordinating, analyzing, publishing, and archiving variable star observations made largely by amateur astronomers. ...

. She and her husband, civil engineer Richard D. Lines, built a small observatory in Mayer,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and wrote about its construction for ''

Sky & Telescope ''Sky & Telescope'' (''S&T'') is a monthly American magazine covering all aspects of amateur astronomy, including the following: *current events in astronomy and space exploration; *events in the amateur astronomy community; *reviews of astronomic ...

''. In 1992 they won the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for their work in the field of photoelectric

photometry Photometry can refer to: * Photometry (optics), the science of measurement of visible light in terms of its perceived brightness to human vision * Photometry (astronomy), the measurement of the flux or intensity of an astronomical object's electro ...

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as e ...

s. She was a co-author on two scientific papers published in the mid-1990s.van Hamme, W.V.; Hall, D.S.; Hargrove, A.W.; Henry, G.W.; Wasson, R.; Barkslade, W.S.; Chang, S.; Fried, R.E.; Green, C.L.; Lines, H.C.; Lines, R.D.; Nielsen, P.; Powell, H.D.; Reisenweber, R.C.; Rogers, C.W.; Shervais, S.; Tatum, R
"The Two Variables in The Triple System HR 6469=V819 Her: One Eclipsing, One Spotted"
''Astronomical Journal'' 107(1994): , p.1521.Crews, L.J.; Hall, D.S.; Henry, G.W.; Lines, R.D.; Lines, H.C.; Fried, R.E
"Starspots Found on the Ellipsoidal Variable V350 Lacertae = HR 8575"
''Astronomical Journal'' 109(1995): , p.1346.

Publications

* "A New Amateur Observatory in Central Arizona" (1968, with Richard D. Lines) * "UBVRI photometry of the recurrent nova T coronae borealis" (1988, with Richard D. Lines and Thomas G. McFaul) * "Evolution of starspots in the long-period RS CVN binary V1817 Cygni = HR 7428" (1990, with Richard D. Lines, Douglas S. Hall, and Susan E. Gessner) * "The Two Variables in The Triple System HR 6469=V819 Her: One Eclipsing, One Spotted" (1994, with 16 other authors) * "Starspots Found on the Ellipsoidal Variable V350 Lacertae = HR 8575" (1995, with 5 other authors)

Personal life

Helen Chambliss Williams was born in

Forrest City, Arkansas Forrest City is a city in St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States, and the county seat. It was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who used the location as a campsite for a construction crew completing a railroad between Memphis and Litt ...

, the daughter of Russell Williams and Sadie Borden Williams. Her father was the chief of police in Forrest City. She married Richard Damon Lines in 1936. They had a daughter, Chambliss. Richard Lines died in 1992, and Helen Lines died in 2001, aged 82 years, in Searcy, Arkansas.

References

External links

Saguaro Astronomy Club: The Passing of Richard Lines
1918 births 2001 deaths People from Forrest City, Arkansas American women astronomers Amateur astronomers 20th-century American astronomers 20th-century American women scientists {{US-astronomer-stub