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Astronomy

22 April 2014

Astronomer Biography Quarter 4: Margaret Geller

     Margaret Joan Geller was born on December 8th, 1947. She was born in Ithaca, New York. She became an American astronomer and also studied astrophysics. First, Margaret Geller got her Bachelor of Arts in Physics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1970. She also got her Ph.D. in Physics at Princeton University in 1975. She went on to do research fellowships at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. After this, the well established Margaret Geller became an assistant professor. She took this position at Harvard University and taught Astronomy in the years 1980 to 1938. After this, she worked at the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. To this day, Geller has as many as five honorary degrees.

     Throughout her career, Geller did lots of research about cosmology and extragalactic astronomy. She constructed pioneer maps. These pioneer maps were made by Geller in the 1980s, and were a great depiction of the structure of the universe.  These maps later lead astronomers to discover the Great Wall. The Great Wall is one of the largest known superstructures in the universe and spans over hundreds of millions of light years in all directions. Margaret Geller discovered this superstructure along with John Huchra. These astronomers used redshift data to discover the Great Wall. The latest thing Geller has put research towards is creating a bigger map of the universe names the HectoMAP. In doing these things, Margaret Geller developed many different techniques that can be adopted by other astronomers. These techniques specifically help to map and learn more about structure, mass, and the relationships between galaxy clusters and large scale clusters.

Margaret Geller has received many awards for her accomplishments. Starting in 1989, she was awarded the Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was awarded this along with John Huchra for their discovery of the Great Wall and for “Mapping the Universe”. Some awards were given to her for her teaching, such as the Klopsteg Memorial Award of the American Association of Physics Teachers. One of Margaret’s five total honorary degrees has been given from Colby College. Margaret Geller also obtained the MacArthur Fellowship, Russell Lectureship, Magellanic Premium, and the Schwarzschild Medal in 2014 among many others.

All in all, Margaret is a very talented astronomer that has researched and discovered many things that have changed and contributed to astronomy. The things Margaret has contributed have not only added to the information we know about the universe, but also taught other astronomers innovative ways to keep discovering more. Being one of a very little number of women in the astronomy field, Margaret Geller is inspirational to girls and has definitely paved the way for more females to get involved with sciences and astronomy.

Works Cited

"Margaret Geller's SAO Home Page." Margaret Geller's SAO Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~mjg/>.

"1989: Margaret Geller and John Huchra Map the Universe." Everyday Cosmology. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://cosmology.carnegiescience.edu/timeline/1989>.

"History of Women in Astronomy: Margaret Geller." History of Women in Astronomy: Margaret Geller. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://astro.berkeley.edu/~gmarcy/women/geller.html>.

"Margaret Geller." Answers. Answers Corporation, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.answers.com/topic/margaret-geller>.