Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Sisters of the Sun




Today on Far Future Horizons we proudly present the eighth episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey hosted by Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.


The title of this installment is “Sisters of the Sun” and explores the violent cosmic phenomenon of supernovas, which on average occur once per galaxy per century or one billion times per year in the observable universe.







The episode pays homage to the discoveries of two female astronomers, Cecilia Payne (voiced by Kirsten Dunst) and Annie Jump Cannon (voiced by Marlee Matlin), and the obstacles faced by female scientists, especially those working in the early 20th century. 




Payne discovered the chemical composition of stars and that they consist largely of Hydrogen. Cannon developed the first catalog for the spectral characteristics of stars.





The episode's title refers to the scientific contributions of the female scientists featured in the episode as well as how their discoveries helped advance our knowledge of the composition of stars.




The Harvard Computers that helped to classify the types of stars
If you want to learn more about the scientists mentioned in this and other episodes in the series here is a very good reference page ~ The Scientists of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. 

This episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey can be purchased from Amazon Instant video





Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey ~ Sisters of the Sun
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