Post #2790883

2023-05-10 15:23 UTC

[Enter villain] Henry Norris Russell, a prominent astronomer, was *sure* Payne was wrong. He convinced her to omit the result from her thesis. A few years later he realized that HE was wrong, and published the result himself. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1929ApJ....70...11R/abstract

Replies (3)

@mcnees@mastodon.social 2023-05-10 15:27

I’ve seen claims that Henry Norris Russell cited Payne on this result, but reading through his paper my impression is that he did not give Payne nearly as much credit as she deserved for the Hydrogen and Helium abundances. He cites Payne when discussing heavier elements, but when he arrives at the surprising result on the abundance of Hydrogen – a major discovery – he fails to mention that he convinced Payne to leave it out of her thesis. Maybe I'm missing something or he gave credit elsewhere.

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@BrashTech@mefi.social 2023-05-10 22:48

@mcnees@mastodon.social When I saw this T-shirt I made an eeping sound and bought it. https://dustrial.net/products/payne-unisex-tee

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@mfdeakin@mathstodon.xyz 2023-05-11 05:13

@mcnees@mastodon.social sorry for the pedantry, but I thought she claimed the result was "almost certainly not real" in her thesis rather than omitted it? That statement was something she apparently deeply regretted for a large portion of her life according to the bio I read

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