Winifred Sawtell Cameron (December 3, 1918 – March 29, 2016) was an American astronomer. She worked at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland for most of her career, and compiled the

Lunar Transient Phenomena A transient lunar phenomenon (TLP) or lunar transient phenomenon (LTP) is a short-lived light, color or change in appearance on the surface of the Moon. The term was created by Patrick Moore in his co-authorship of NASA Technical Report R-277 ''Ch ...

(LTP) database. She was involved in the

Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Norther ...

and

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

programs.

Early life

Winifred J. Sawtell was born in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated ...

, the daughter of Amos Alexander Sawtell and Mildred Winifred Shields Sawtell. Her father was an accountant. She was a

Girl Scout Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

, and graduated from

Oak Park and River Forest High School , motto_translation = Those things that are best , address = 201 N. Scoville Avenue , location = , region = , town = Oak Park , county = , state ...

in 1936. She earned a bachelor's degree and a teaching credential at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

in 1940, and completed a master's degree in astronomy at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

Career

After college, Sawtell worked at Weather Forecasts, Inc. in Chicago, from 1943 to 1946, and again from 1949 to 1950. She taught astronomy at Mount Holyoke College from 1950 to 1951. She was a researcher at the

United States Naval Observatory United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the Depo ...

from 1951 to 1958, analyzing sunspots. In 1959, Winifred Cameron and her husband both joined NASA's new Goddard Space Flight Center, where she was a lunar expert and head of Data Acquisition and Analysis. She compiled the Lunar Transient Phenomena (LTP) database, still in use. She was astronomer-on-base at Cape Canaveral during two Mercury flights, and an advisor on the Apollo moon landings. She was the only woman scientist in attendance at the international Lunar Geological Field Conference in Oregon in 1965. She gave frequent talks on her work to civic organizations, schools, and amateur astronomers. In 1974, Cameron was a technologist at the

National Space Science Data Center The NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA) serves as the permanent archive for NASA space science mission data. "Space science" includes astronomy and astrophysics, solar and space plasma physics, and planetary and lunar science. A ...

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental and controversial New D ...

. She retired from NASA in 1984, but continued working on the LTP database. She was a member of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

, the American Astronomical Society, the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's a ...

, and the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers.

Personal life

Winifred Sawtell married fellow astronomer Robert Curry Cameron in 1953. They had two daughters, Selene and Sheri. Robert died in 1972. Winifred died in 2016, aged 98, in

Lehigh Acres, Florida Lehigh Acres is an unincorporated area and Municipal District in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 Census the population was 135,272. Lehigh Acres is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lehi ...

. There is an asteroid named 1575 Winifred, after Cameron; and she named a lunar crater Cameron in memory of her husband.

References

External links

Obituary
from ''The News-Press'', April 19, 2016. * W. S. Cameron
"Analyses of Lunar Transient Phenomena (LTP) Observations from 557–1994 A.D."
An academic paper by Winifred S. Cameron. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Winifred 1918 births 2016 deaths American women astronomers Scientists from Oak Park, Illinois Indiana University alumni Northern Illinois University alumni Mount Holyoke College faculty