Portrait of Antonia Maury

Birthday profile

Antonia Maury

Antonia Maury, American astronomer and astrophysicist (died 1952)

Born
March 21, 1866
Died
January 8, 1952
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1866

About Antonia Maury

Antonia Caetana de Paiva Pereira Maury was an American astronomer who was the first to detect and calculate the orbit of a spectroscopic binary. She published an important early catalog of stellar spectra using her own system of stellar classification, which was later adopted by the International Astronomical Union. She also spent many years studying the binary star Beta Lyrae. Maury was part of the Harvard Computers, a group of female astronomers and human computers at the Harvard College Observatory. Dorrit Hoffleit described Maury as an "independent Renegade", suffering at the Observation for her Independence not agreeing with the way Edward Charles Pickering had them working for minimal credit. Antonia Caetana de Paiva Pereira Maury (March 21, 1866 – January 8, 1952) was an American astronomer who was the first to detect and calculate the orbit of a spectroscopic binary. Antonia Maury was awarded the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy in 1943. Then, in 1889, Maury discovered a second spectroscopic binary, Beta Aurigae, and calculated its orbital period.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Antonia Maury timeline

  1. Antonia Caetana de Paiva Pereira Maury (March 21, 1866 – January 8, 1952) was an American astronomer who was the first to detect and calculate the orbit of a spectroscopic binary.
  2. Then, in 1889, Maury discovered a second spectroscopic binary, Beta Aurigae, and calculated its orbital period.
  3. Antonia Maury was awarded the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy in 1943.

The world when Antonia Maury was born

Antonia Maury was born in 1866. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1866

  • Best-selling bookCrime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineReconstruction era begins in the South
  • Technology milestoneTransatlantic telegraph cable successfully laid
  • World population~1.46B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderAndrew Johnson
  • U.S. population34.0M

1866 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Antonia Maury's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18662026
Population34.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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