Myrtle L. Richmond
A young white woman with fair hair in an updo, wearing eyeglasses and a high-collared white dress or blouse
Myrtle L. Richmond, from the 1907 Smith College yearbook
Born
Myrtle Leila Richmond

(1882-09-30)September 30, 1882
Vinland, Kansas
DiedJanuary 2, 1973(1973-01-02) (aged 90)
Pasadena, California
Alma mater
Known forComputer at Mount Wilson Observatory, 1913 to 1947
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics and Astronomy
Institutions

Myrtle Leila Richmond (September 30, 1882 – January 2, 1973) was an American astronomical researcher, a computer who worked at the Mount Wilson Observatory from 1913 to 1947.

Early life and education

Richmond was born in Vinland, Kansas, the daughter of Frank L. Richmond and Leila Delight Richmond.[1] Her father was construction superintendent in the railroad industry.[2] She graduated from Smith College in 1907,[3] and earned a master's degree in 1908 at the University of Denver.[4] She was active in Smith College alumnae activities in Los Angeles.[5]

Career

Richmond taught mathematics at the University of Denver,[4] and worked at Chamberlin Observatory in Colorado in 1909.[6] She was a fellow in mathematics and astronomy at Goodsell Observatory in 1912,[7] where she worked on Variable stars[8] and a comet's orbit.[9]

Richmond joined the Mount Wilson Observatory computing department in 1913, and retired in 1947, after she "ably assisted in a large number of stellar and solar investigations."[10][11][12] She was listed as a member of the observatory's "investigatory staff" in 1917.[13] Her work also helped to establish the location of the planet Pluto,[14][15][16] and of the moons of Jupiter.[17] She contributed to several observatory publications,[18][19] including A photometric study of the pleiades (1931, with Harlow Shapley), Mean distribution of stars according to apparent magnitude and galactic latitude (1925), The mean color-index of stars of different apparent magnitudes. Some relations between magnitude scales (1925), and Mount Wilson catalogue of photographic magnitudes in selected areas 1–139 (1930).[20] She co-authored articles with American astronomer Seth Barnes Nicholson[21] and Danish astronomer Julie Vinter Hansen.[22]

Personal life

Richmond enjoyed hiking.[23] She died in 1973, aged 90 years, in Pasadena. Her gravesite is in Woodstock, Vermont,[1] her father's hometown.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Miss Myrtle Richmond". Rutland Daily Herald. May 4, 1973. p. 4. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 "Frank L. Richmond". Vermont Standard. February 14, 1907. p. 3. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Smith College (1920). Annual register of the Alumnae Association of Smith College. p. 6.
  4. 1 2 University of Denver and Colorado Seminary Catalogue (1908–1909): College of Liberal Arts, Graduate School, Preparatory School. University of Denver. 1909. p. 21 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ "Smith College Women Hold Reunion". The Pasadena Post. February 23, 1920. p. 7. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Howe, H. A. (October 1, 1910). REPORTS OF OBSERVATORIES, 1909. JSTOR. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. p. 191.
  7. ↑ Payne, William Wallace; Willard, Charlotte R.; Wilson, Herbert Couper; Wilson, Ralph Elmer; Gingrich, Curvin Henry (June–July 1913). "General Notes". Popular Astronomy. 21: 379.
  8. ↑ Richmond, Myrtle L. (December 1912). "Minima of Variable Stars of the Algol Type". Popular Astronomy. 20: 661–662.
  9. ↑ Richmond, Myrtle L. (December 1912). "Ephemeris of Comet 1912 c (Borrelly)". Popular Astronomy. 20: 672.
  10. ↑ Bowen, Ira S. (December 1948). "Survey of the Year's Work at the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 60 (357): 357. Bibcode:1948PASP...60..353B. doi:10.1086/126090.
  11. ↑ "Stars Figured 40,000,000,000". Los Angeles Times. July 20, 1929. p. 24. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Women in Science". Los Angeles Times. July 1, 1929. p. 10. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Carnegie Institution of Washington (1917). Carnegie Institution of Washington ... The Institution.
  14. ↑ Richmond, Myrtle L. (1944). "Positions of Pluto". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 56: 217. doi:10.1086/125731. S2CID 121451412.
  15. ↑ Richmond, Myrtle L. (1944). "Ephemeris of Pluto". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 56 (328): 37. Bibcode:1944PASP...56...37R. doi:10.1086/125594. ISSN 0004-6280. JSTOR 40669890.
  16. ↑ van Biesbroeck, G. (April 1944). "Position of Pluto in 1944". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 56 (329): 89. Bibcode:1944PASP...56...89V. doi:10.1086/125616. S2CID 250770864.
  17. ↑ Nicholson, Seth B. (1944). "Orbit of the Ninth Moon of Jupiter". Contributions from the Mount Wilson Observatory. 693: 1–6. Bibcode:1944CMWCI.693....1N.
  18. ↑ Sandage, Allan; Brown, Louis; Allan, Sandage (2004). Centennial History of the Carnegie Institution of Washington: Volume 1, The Mount Wilson Observatory: Breaking the Code of Cosmic Evolution. Cambridge University Press. pp. 220–221. ISBN 978-0-521-83078-2.
  19. ↑ Janssen, Edith M.; Vyssotsky, A. N.; Richmond, Myrtle L. (1943). "Seven New S-Type Stars". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 55 (326): 245–246. Bibcode:1943PASP...55..245J. doi:10.1086/125561. ISSN 0004-6280. JSTOR 40669971. S2CID 250741621.
  20. ↑ Mount Wilson Observatory; Seares, Frederick Hanley; Kapteyn, J. C; Rhijn, P. J. van; Joyner, Mary C; Richmond, Myrtle L (1930). Mount Wilson catalogue of photographic magnitudes in selected areas 1–139. Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington. OCLC 1180673.
  21. ↑ Nicholson, Seth B.; Richmond, Myrtle L. (1944). "A Tornado Prominence, June 19, 1944". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 56 (331): 162–165. Bibcode:1944PASP...56..162N. doi:10.1086/125642. ISSN 0004-6280. JSTOR 40671678.
  22. ↑ Hansen, Julie M. Vinter; Richmond, Myrtle L. (1942). "The Relative Accuracy of Radial Velocities Measured with the Spectrocomparator and with the Usual Measuring Machine". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 54 (320): 203–205. Bibcode:1942PASP...54..203V. doi:10.1086/125445. ISSN 0004-6280. JSTOR 40670226.
  23. ↑ "Summit of San Jacinto Peak Their Goal". The Pasadena Post. September 9, 1919. p. 6. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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