Edith Kellman (April 4, 1911,

Walworth, Wisconsin Walworth is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,759 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Walworth. Geography Walworth is located at (42.531825, −88.593227). According to t ...

– May 11, 2007, Walworth, Wisconsin) was a noted American astronomer who is known for her work on the Yerkes system of stellar classification, also called the MKK system.

Early life and education

Edith Kellman was born on April 4, 1911 in Walworth, Wisconsin to Ludvig and Ellen Levander Kellman. Kellman attended Wheaton College in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

Career

Kellman worked at the

Yerkes Observatory Yerkes Observatory ( ) is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States. The observatory was operated by the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from its founding in 1897 to 2018. Owner ...

as a photographic assistant, where she worked with William Morgan and Philip Keenan to develop the Yerkes system, an influential system of stellar classification. The MKK classification system was introduced in 1943 and was used by Morgan, Keenan, and Kellman to map the spiral structure of the Milky way using O and

B star In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the ...

s. A variation on this system is still used today in stellar classification. After leaving the observatory, she taught mathematics at Williams Bay High School until her retirement in the 1970s.

References

American women astronomers Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni 1911 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American women scientists People from Walworth, Wisconsin 20th-century American scientists 21st-century American women {{US-astronomer-stub