Vera Rubin’s Contributions to Astronomy

They say Vera Rubin contributed to three crucial elements within astronomy: the discovery of dark matter, the replacement of photographic plates by more sensitive electronic detectors, and creating an entrance for female astronomers in this profession. It is not uncommon for women to often get looked over for an achievement they have made or to even have other people, usually males, credited with the discoveries made by them.

Her one discovery that she is made most famous for is her discovery of dark matter. Dark matter is stuff in space that has gravity, but it is not like anything we have ever seen before. Literally. We can not see dark matter and the only reason why we know it exists is because of gravitational effects and because of Vera Rubin. Dark matter is made up of galaxies, stars, planets, black holes, comets, asteroids, and much much more. In the year of 1933, a Swiss American astronomer by the name of Fritz Zwicky helped to set the foundation for her future discovery. He had observed that the mass of the stars was not enough to keep this galaxy that he had been observing from flying apart. He had concluded that there must have been some “missing mass” that was holding this galaxy together but could not have figured out what. In comes Vera Rubin. How she came about discovering this, is that her and her colleague at the time, Kent Ford had observed that stars on the outside of galaxies spun quite faster than the other stars. They came across this when they had begun measuring the rotation of galaxies. 

Although this discovery that she made was groundbreaking and opened many new doors for the future scientists, she still struggled to fit into her field and be recognized for her knowledge. Even though she presided in the entry of women into astronomy and just science in general, she really fought to be where she was at. She was lucky enough to land a permanent job at the age of 37 at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in their Terrestrial Magnetism department. Although she had landed an incredible job like that, she still was facing the belittlement that came with being a woman in that department. There would be certain equipment that they would not let her use even though it would have been extremely beneficial to her research. One instant that changed everything for her was when she was invited up to the Palomar Observatory which was a mountain top observatory located in California. Now, this observatory was strictly for men and men only. If you wanted to get in as a woman, you had to disguise yourself and register under your husband’s name. Even all the laboratories were labeled for men until Rubin came in and cut out a paper skirt and taped it onto one of the bathroom doors. Rubin was the first woman formally invited to this observatory which opened up many opportunities for future women scientists in this field. 

Back then, and even still now, women are often stuck in the shadows of men. No matter how much work they contributed to, even if it was all of it, men always seem to overshadow women. Until Vera Rubin came into the picture. Because of the remarkable achievements made by Vera Rubin she was awarded with the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Gruber Cosmology Prize, and National Medal of Science. Vera Rubin will forever be one of the only astronomers mourned with so much love and admiration. 

Citations

Faber, Sandra. “Vera Rubin's Contributions to Astronomy.” Scientific American Blog Network, Scientific American, 29 Dec. 2016, blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/vera-rubins-contributions-to-astronomy/. 

Koren, Marina. “An Influential Female Astronomer Is Getting Her Due.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 10 Jan. 2020, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/01/vera-rubin-observatory/604624/.