Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-12
WOMAN WHO FINDS STARS.
Miss Fleming Has to Her Credit 8 of
the 10 Discovered in 200 Years.

the 10 Discovered in 200 Years.
From the Boston Herald.
Mrs. Wilhelmina Fleming has discovered
more stars in the last twenty years than
all the other astronomers have been able
to find in the last 200 years Only ten new
stars have been mapped in the last two
centuries. and of these eight have come
first to the eye of Mrs. Fleming. Officially.
Mrs. Fleming is curator of astronomical
photographs for Harvard University. She
is the only woman on the university roster
holding a position calling for active work.
In the collection of the university are pic
lures of more than 10000 stars and
planets.
Mrs Fleming came to the United States
from Dundee twenty-five years ago with
her little son. She Immediately took up,
as a means of support primarily, some of
the kind of work that is being done under
her supervision now.
She had been for five years a teacher.
Her father had been fond of scientific in
vestigaton and she herself had a special
faculty for mathematics. This was her
only preparation for the work in which she
has become famous.
When person leaves her sunny parlor
and, going past the rooms where are stored
the valuable libraries of the observatory,
crosses long terrace and enters a small
darkened room which turn of the wrist
Eliminates, he sees thousands and thou
sands of plates, all lighted from behind.
There Is the work of years In the room,
work which becomes more and more valu-
able years go by. In time the whole
heaven will be pictured here. There is
| nothing in the northern hemisphere which
'gets by and no speck on the plates IS
meaningless. The same kind of exhaustive
work is being done for the southern hemis-
phere from the Peru observatory.
THE records of the Peru station are sent
directly to me-" says Mrs. Fleming, and
study them and with the aid of my assist
ants classify and index them and file them
away"
AM xrybn yto 10 a.
necessary to record 1t Immediately? Is 1t
likely to flicker OUT" Mrs. Fleming was
asked.
Certainly" explains Mrs Fleming. 1.-The
fact should be made known at once. The
star Is quite likely to go out, as the term
goes. But the reason for its appearance
and Its disappearance. We can't tell you. 1t
may have been merely a dark body before
I'VE can only say that once 1T Is placed,
ticketed, we have its status forever. We
can be perfectly sure of its position though
we are unable to see 1t. And we at once
record 1t beneath the especial constellation
In which 1t appears. The stars tell on
themselves.
Sooner or later they are bound to betray
themselves upon the truthful photo-tele-
scope"
The present researches at the Harvard
observatory are being carried on by Mrs.
Fleming with the Draper memorial fund.
Mrs Draper herself is greatly interested In
the work which goes on, her deceased hus-
band, DR.. Henry Draper of New York, hav-
ing been the pioneer in stellar photography.
and the inventions and resodrcefulness OF
Prof. Pickering making the fund of almost
inestimable value to scientists
The Draper method OF taking pictures
caught only one star at a time, whereas
the present method takes every star within
range. Mrs. Draper visited the observa-
tory short time ago and left as SOU
venir Of her visit a brooch made of a
golden disk set off with a moonstone, a
trailing diamond comet and another tiny
diamond.
Mrs. Fleming has none Of the appearance
of woman who gives herself up to solv-
ing mighty problems and making records
of world interest. Forty odd years old
her soft brown hair has hardly trace of
gray, her cheeks have the glow of YOUTH
! and there is less in her to suggest worry
than in the appearance of two women out
of three around bargain counter.
With all her star gazing and scanning Of
negatives, Mrs. Fleming has had time to
devote to the purely domestic side of life
| She is at the head of Cambridge house
| hold, consisting of herself, her mother and
J her brothers two children.