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ANNIE JUMP CANNON
Born: Dover, Delaware, December 11,
1863
Died: Cambridge, Massachusetts,
April 13, 1941
ANNIE JUMP CANNON
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ELDEST DAUGHTER TO WILSON
CANNON, SHIPBUILDER AND
DELAWARE STATE SENATOR, AND HIS
SECOND WIFE, MARY JUMP
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MOTHER FUELED HER INTEREST IN
ASTRONOMY BY TEACHING HER THE
CONSTELLATIONS
EXTENSIVE EDUCATIONAL
BACKGROUND
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graduated from Wellesley College in 1884.
became a "special student" of astronomy at Radcliffe College in
1894
received an M.A. from Wellesley College in 1907
received an honorary doctorate from the University of Delaware
in 1918
was the first woman to receive a doctor of astronomy degree
from Groningen University, in 1921.
was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Oxford
in 1925
received an honorary doctorate from Wellesley College in 1925
received an honorary doctorate from Oglethorpe University in
1935
received an honorary doctorate from Mount Holyoke College in
1937
<http://www.wellesley.edu/Astronomy/annie/education.html>
CAREER
ASTRONOMER
THEORIST OF STAR SPECTRA
CAREER
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“In 1896 Annie Jump Cannon was hired by
Professor Edward Charles Pickering, director of
the Harvard College Observatory to catalogue
variable stars and classify the spectra of
southern [hemisphere] stars.”
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“Pickering conceived the Henry Draper Memorial
as a long-term project to obtain optical spectra of
as many stars as possible and to index and
classify stars by their spectra.”
<http://www.wellesley.edu/Astronomy/annie/education.html>
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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She devised the "arbitrary" division of
stars into the spectral classes O, B, A, F,
G, K, M. (mnemonically recognized as Oh
Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me)
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It was far simpler than existing divisions.
Her Draper Catalogues ultimately listed
over 400,000 stars
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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Cannon also published catalogs of
variable stars (including 300 she
discovered).
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One notable variable star that Cannon
discovered is the dwarf nova, SS Cygni
which repeated its outburst cycle about
every 60 days.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ABOUT CANNON’S WORK
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The Variable Star– “Variable stars are
stars that change brightness. The
brightness changes of these stars can
range from a thousandth of a magnitude to
as much as twenty magnitudes over
periods of a fraction of a second to years,
depending on the type of variable star.”
<http://www.aavso.org/vstar/>
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ABOUT CANNON’S WORK
TYPES OF VARIABLE STARS
EXTRINSIC– “variability is due to the eclipse
of one star by another or the effects of
stellar rotation.”
INTRINSIC– “variation is due to physical
changes in the star or stellar system.”
<http://www.aavso.org/vstar/types.shtml>
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ABOUT CANNON’S WORK

EXTRINSIC VARIABLES INCLUDE;
ECLIPSING BINARY AND
ROTATING VARIABLES

INTRINSIC VARIABLES INCLUDE;
ERUPTIVE [CATACLYSMIC] AND
PULSATING VARIABLES
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ABOUT CANNON’S WORK
Research on variable stars is important
because it provides information about
stellar properties, such as mass, radius,
luminosity, temperature, internal and
external structure, composition, and
evolution.
 Stellar Spectroscopy uses the absorption
lines of stellar emissions/radiations to
classify stars.
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OBAFGKM
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There are new spectral types that expand on the OBAFGKM template,
cataloging some rare spectral types.
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Here are a few mnemonics from
http://www.geocities.com/SummerDale33/Mnemonic.html
OBAFGKMLT:
 Officially, Bill Always Felt Guilty Kissing Monica
Lewinsky Tenderly
OBAFGKM:
 Only Boys Accepting Feminism Get Kissed
Meaningfully
WORKS CITED
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http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/cannon.ht
ml
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/topic
s/Stars.html
http://www.wellesley.edu/Astronomy/annie/educa
tion.html
http://www.aavso.org/vstar/
http://www.geocities.com/SummerDale33/Mn
emonic.html