Martha Locke Hazen (15 July 1931- 23 December 2006) was an American
astronomer, best known for her contributions as curator of the Harvard astronomical photographs collection and her work on
variable stars.
Early life and education
Martha Locke Hazen was born in
Cambridge, Massachusetts and grew up in
Belmont
Belmont may refer to:
People
* Belmont (surname)
Places
* Belmont Abbey (disambiguation)
* Belmont Historic District (disambiguation)
* Belmont Hotel (disambiguation)
* Belmont Park (disambiguation)
* Belmont Plantation (disambiguation)
* Belmon ...
.
In 1953, 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.
...
with a degree in astronomy.
She went on to complete her Ph.D. at the
University of Michigan in 1958.
Her thesis foscused on how the intensities of
elliptical galaxies within the
Virgo cluster were distributed.
Research and career
Martha was a research fellow at
Harvard College Observatory, observing in
Chile for 3 weeks every year.
In 1969, she became the curator of astronomical photographs at Harvard where she was responsible for the
Harvard Plate Archives
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
and she assumed this role until her retirement in 2002.
She was also had a leadership role in improving the status of women in university life at Harvard, serving as the Harvard College Observatory representative on Harvard's committee dedicated to this.
As part of her role she helped organise the first Space for Women conference in 1975.
Additionally, she helped remove gender bias from the bylaws of
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 ...
.
Martha joined the
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) in 1975 and was elected as a member of the AAVSO council in 1984.
She acted as a vice president before becoming president of the association in 1992.
She went on to take the role of secretary in 1993 and remained in the role for 10 years.
The
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Function
...
at
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) is a research institute of the Smithsonian Institution, concentrating on astrophysical studies including galactic and extragalactic astronomy, cosmology, solar, earth and planetary sciences, the ...
named an
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
(asteroid number: 10,024), Marthahazen, in recognition of Martha's contributions to astronomy.
Personal life
Martha married
William Liller in 1959 and they had two children together, John Liller and Hillary Ward.
Martha and William divorced in 1982 and she married her second husband Bruce McHenry in 1991.
Awards
* 37th AAVSO Merit Award.
Notable publications
* Martha L Hazen; James M Nemen. (July 1992). " Variable Stars Within 25 Arcmin of the LMC Globular Cluster NGC 2210".
Astronomical Journal. 104: 111.
doi10.1086/116224*M L Hazen-Liller. (September 1985). "The variable stars in the field of the globular cluster NGC 6569". Astronomical Journal. 90: 1807–181
doi:10.1086/113881
References
{{Authority control
1931 births
2006 deaths
American women astronomers
American astronomers
20th-century American astronomers