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| Vera Rubin:
Astronomer
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 | About Vera Rubin |
| Vera Rubin is an observational astronomer who has devoted her professional career to the study of motions of galaxies in the universe. She was the first woman permitted to observe at the Palomar Observatory in 1965. In 1996, she was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, the first time that honor was bestowed on a woman since 1828 (when it was given to Carolina Herschel). Dr. Rubin is a staff researcher in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. |
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| The Interview |
GCD: How did you become interested in astronomy?
VR: I started watching the stars from my bedroom window when I was about 12 years old and became captivated by their motion through the night. Then, I began to read books from the library about astronomy. I never knew a single astronomer, but my parents were very supportive, and my father helped me build a telescope. Friends of my parents were mathematicians, and I thought they led fascinating lives.
GCD: What do you like the most about your work?
VR: I like learning things about the universe that no one has ever known before. I love going to meetings and talking about my work. And I love being on a mount-top observatory on a dark night (no moon), and seeing the brilliant sky with the stars and the Milky Way.
GCD: What skills do you think have helped you to be successful?
VR: I learned to be patient, to be very concerned about details, and to do careful work at the telescope. I learned to ask questions about the universe, and then to devise observations that make it possible to get close to the answers.
GCD: Do you have any advice for young astronomers?
VR: Not to give up. There are many many times when things might not go as well as you like, or problems may seem very large. But just keep on trying. If you give up, you will never succeed, but if you keep trying, you might do something spectacular. There are no limits to what you can do. I never imagined that I would accomplish the things that I have. |
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