Knowra Margaret Burbidge Margaret Burbidge Margaret Burbidge (1919–2020) was a British-American astronomer whose research helped explain the origin of chemical elements in stars. She became the first woman director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
Geoffrey Burbidge : Geoffrey Burbidge was a British-American astrophysicist who studied quasars, galaxies, and the origin of chemical elements. Her husband and close collaborator, he coauthored the landmark paper on stellar element formation.
B2FH paper : The 1957 review by Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler, and Hoyle that organized the main processes producing elements in stars. Burbidge coauthored this landmark synthesis of how stellar processes build the elements.
Stellar spectroscopy : Stellar spectroscopy analyzes the light from stars to infer their composition, temperature, motion, and physical conditions. Burbidge used spectra to investigate stars and the chemical elements they contain.
Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy : The Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy recognizes outstanding research by a woman astronomer within five years of her doctorate. Burbidge declined the award in 1972, objecting to distinctions based on recipients' sex.
William Alfred Fowler : William Alfred Fowler was an American nuclear physicist whose laboratory measurements informed theories of stellar nucleosynthesis. His nuclear physics expertise completed the team behind the B2FH paper.
Stellar nucleosynthesis : Stellar nucleosynthesis is the formation of chemical elements through nuclear reactions inside stars and stellar explosions. This broader subject encompasses the element-making processes clarified in Burbidge's work.
Quasar : A quasar is an extremely luminous active galactic nucleus powered by matter accreting onto a supermassive black hole. Burbidge's observations and arguments helped establish quasars as distant, energetic astronomical sources.
National Science Foundation : The National Science Foundation is a United States federal agency that supports research and education across science and engineering. Burbidge refused its postdoctoral fellowship for women, arguing that such restrictions institutionalized discrimination.
Fred Hoyle : Fred Hoyle was a British astronomer who developed influential theories of stellar nucleosynthesis and the universe. His theoretical work and collaboration shaped the account of element formation associated with B2FH.
Nuclear fusion : Nuclear fusion joins light atomic nuclei into heavier nuclei, releasing energy when the products are more tightly bound. Fusion powers stars and builds many of the nuclei considered in the B2FH account.
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