List of women astronomers

Maria Mitchell (1818–1889)
Professor of astronomy at Vassar College

The following is a list of astronomers, astrophysicists and other notable women who have made contributions to the field of astronomy.


A

B

Jocelyn Bell Burnell

C

Annie Jump Cannon 1922 Portrait

D

E

  • Maria Clara Eimmart (1676-1707), German astronomer, engraver, and designer
  • Sara Ellison, Canadian astronomer and instructor studying extragalactic astronomy
  • Rebecca Elson (1960–1999), Canadian–American astronomer and writer

F

Caroline Furness (1918)

G

  • Catharine Garmany (born 1946), American astronomer and educator
  • Pamela L. Gay (born 1973), American astronomer, educator, and writer
  • Vera Fedorovna Gaze (1899–1954), Russian astronomer who studied emission nebula and minor planets
  • Margaret Geller (born 1947), American astrophysicist studying extragalactic astronomy
  • Andrea M. Ghez (born 1965), American astronomer, teacher, and Nobel prize winner
  • Agnes Giberne (1845–1939), English novelist and scientific writer
  • Nüzhet Gökdoğan (1910–2003), Turkish astronomer, mathematician and academic
  • Merle Gold (1921-2017), American astrophysicist
  • Andreja Gomboc (born 1969), Slovenian astrophysicist
  • Alyssa A. Goodman (born 1962), American astrophysicist
  • Eva Grebel, German astronomer studying stellar populations and galaxy formation
  • Lucie Green (born c. 1975), English science communicator and solar researcher
  • Jenny Greene (born 1978), American astrophysicist and teacher studying supermassive black holes and galaxies
  • Ruth Grützbauch (born 1978), Austrian astronomer

H

Caroline Herschel (1750–1848)

I

J

K

Dorothea Klumpke (1861–1942)

L

Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868–1921)

M

N

  • Sultana N. Nahar, Bangladeshi-American physicist studying atomic processes in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas
  • Joan Najita, American astronomer researching the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems
  • Yaël Nazé, Belgian astrophysicist studying massive stars and their environmental interaction
  • Heidi Jo Newberg, American astrophysicist studying the Milky Way structure

O

Carolina Ödman-Govender in 2013.

P

Q

Elisa Quintana in 2014

R

S

Carolyn S. Shoemaker

T

U

  • Anne Barbara Underhill (1920–2003), Canadian astrophysicist who studied massive stars
  • Meg Urry, American astrophysicist studying supermassive black holes and galaxies

V

W

Sarah Frances Whiting (1847–1927)

Y

  • Ye Shuhua (born 1927), Chinese astronomer and instructor
  • Anne Sewell Young (1871–1961), American astronomer who studied variable stars
  • Judith Young (1952–2014), American physicist, astronomer, and educator
  • Louise Gray Young (1935-2018), American astronomer and researcher

Z

  • Magdalena Zeger (around 1491–1568), calendar maker, astronomer, first women to publish independently in the field of astronomy
  • Lyudmila Zhuravlyova (born 1946), Russian-Ukrainian astronomer who discovered minor planets
  • Maria Zuber (born 1958), American planetary scientist

See also