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Henrietta Swan Leavitt

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Black-and-white photograph of women seated at desks with ledgers and magnifiers in an office at Harvard College Observatory.
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Henrietta Leavitt’s ruler

Working for thirty cents an hour on glass plates of the southern sky, Henrietta Swan Leavitt found the relationship that let astronomers measure the universe. The paper announcing it went out under her director’s signature.

CosmosLens Editors4 min read3 views