Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-05
By Mary Proctor

one IlSeS changing the req Hgnt
OF the sky into rich purple, veined here and
there with pale amethyst, as few rays from
the green sun struggle through the clouds Just
as it sinks beneath the horizon. The purple
changes into deep gold as the blue is
succeeded by an orange one and the gold paes
down the red sinks to its rest in turn
The orange is left alone. and when it, too, SETS
night comes on apace."
The Draper Memorial
A COMPLETE pictorial history of the aspect
of the sky during the last few years is
preserved in a brick building adjoining Har-
ward Observatory under the direction of
Professor E. c. Pickering There are stored
thousands of photographs taken of the heavens
from the north to the south pole. and their
study is of absorbing interest. The
Harvard College Observatory was, in fact, the
pioneer in this method of astronomical research.
When DR.. Henry Draper of New York, the
first scientist who successfully photographed
the lines in a stellar spectrum Eight from a
starr, died suddenly in 1882, his WIFE Mrs.
Anna Palmer Draper, decided that the invest-
cations should be continued at the observatory.
and she set aside liberal sum of money for the
purpose of founding the department known as
the Henry Draper Memorial"
Later on an auxiliary station was established
near Arequipa, Peru, about eight thousand
feet above the sea level, for the purpose of
studying and photographing stars that
too far south to be visible at Cambridge.
About three thousand photographs year are
taken at this station, and, after cursory inspec
ton, are sent to Harvard Observatory, where
thousands of photographs of all parts of the
sky are now stored
Mrs. Fleming's Work
TN 1886, three women computors were en-
gagged in the work of this department in
Cambridge, one being Mrs. Fleming. In 1897
the Harvard corporation appointed Mrs.
Fleming curator of astronomical photographs,
thereby breaking a rule of nearly two centuries
with regard to placing women in official posi-
lions at Harvard. Her remarkable success and
skill, and the fulfment of the many response
bilities ntrusted to her, has made the university
gamer by the appointment. Besides the eXecu-
tive management of the Draper Memorial
department. and much incidental correspon-
dence, she has charge of the examination and
classification of all the photogra phs, including
the study of the spectra of variable stars.
During the last three and half centuries
only eighteen stars have been discovered.
Eleven were found during the nineteenth
century. Of these, five were discovered by
Mrs Fleming, notably one in the constellation
Carina.
Mrs. Fleming occupies the brick building at
the observatory which has been named the
Astrophotographic Building, in which the
photographs are stored. The fascinating task
of examining these views in search of
wonders in the depths of space has been un-
dertaken by Mrs. Fleming with the enthu-
siasm of a florist permitted to roam at will in
garden where rare exot1cS bloom and flowers
hitherto unknown greet one at every step.
1t was while wandering in the region of the
sky named by astronomers of old Sagittarius.
the Archer, that she came upon the wealth
of red flowers of the sky referred to at the
beginning of his article. When she strayed
to the southern border of the Milky Way,
POLITICALLY termed by the Japanese the Silver
River of Heaven" her attention was drawn
to the fact that red flowers longer pre-
dominated, but replaced by those of
yellowish hue, resembling the sun. Nesting
among them she detected worn out droop-
ing ruby colored star and two gaseous nebula
possibly containing the seeds of innumerable
star flowers destined to blossom in centuries to
come in all their glory.