At our latest History of Astronomy meeting, we were delighted to welcome Flamsteed member Paul Wright, who gave a fascinating talk on the life and work of Annie Jump Cannon. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Paul for his engaging and informative presentation.
Born in 1863, Annie Jump Cannon was a bright student with a keen interest in physics and astronomy. She was the highest performer in Mathematics and Science at Wellesley College, Massachusetts.
Her interest in photography was kindled during a trip to Spain in 1892, and this ultimately led to a career at Harvard College Observatory, where she was employed as a ‘computer’ – a role undertaken by many women at the time. (Paul previously gave a talk on Henrietta Swan Leavitt, another Harvard ‘computer’, which can be found on our website here: https://www.flamsteed.info/post/hoa-henrietta-levitt-the-overlooked-pioneer-of-distance-by-paul-wright.)
These computers – a group of women – were tasked with cataloguing stars on photographic plates, noting their positions and characteristics. Their work contributed to major astronomical catalogues such as the Draper Catalogue of Stellar Spectra (1890). However, the women were rarely credited, as catalogues were typically named after financial sponsors or senior male astronomers.
Annie Jump Cannon was a determined and highly skilled scientist. She quickly gained recognition for her precision in analysing photographic plates. She also took a keen interest in the brightness and colour of stars, which led her to refine the existing system of spectral classification. Initially, stars were classified alphabetically from A to O, but Annie reorganised the scheme into the sequence we use today: O, B, A, F, G, K, M – with O-type stars being the hottest and rarest. This classification system remains fundamental to modern astronomy and is used in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.
Beyond her work on spectral classification, Annie made many other significant contributions to astronomy. She discovered five novae and more than 300 variable stars, demonstrating her remarkable observational skills.
Her efforts were eventually recognised, and in 1911 she was appointed Curator of Astronomical Photographs at Harvard. She also became an internationally respected scientist, attending the International Solar Union meeting in Bonn in 1913 and visiting the Royal Observatory Greenwich in the same year. In 1925, she made history as the first woman to be awarded an honorary degree from Oxford University. Today, the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy continues to honour her legacy by recognising outstanding research by early-career female astronomers.
Annie Jump Cannon was a truly remarkable individual whose work remains central to our understanding of the stars. We are grateful to Paul Wright for bringing her story to life in this excellent talk.
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