Margaret Burbidge in the context of "Geoffrey Burbidge"

Play Trivia Questions online!

 or

Skip to study material about Margaret Burbidge in the context of "Geoffrey Burbidge"
Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Margaret Burbidge

Eleanor Margaret Burbidge, FRS (née Peachey; 12 August 1919 – 5 April 2020) was a British-American observational astronomer and astrophysicist. In the 1950s, she was one of the founders of stellar nucleosynthesis and was first author of the influential BFH paper. During the 1960s and 1970s she worked on galaxy rotation curves and quasars, discovering the most distant astronomical object then known. In the 1980s and 1990s she helped develop and utilise the Faint Object Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. Burbidge was also well known for her work opposing discrimination against women in astronomy while also opposing positive discrimination.

Burbidge held several leadership and administrative posts, including director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory (1973–1975), president of the American Astronomical Society (1976–1978), and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1983). Burbidge worked at the University of London Observatory, Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago, the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of California San Diego (UCSD). From 1979 to 1988 she was the first director of the Center for Astronomy and Space Sciences at UCSD, where she worked from 1962 until her retirement.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Margaret Burbidge in the context of Geoffrey Burbidge

Geoffrey Ronald Burbidge FRS (24 September 1925 – 26 January 2010) was an English astronomy professor and theoretical astrophysicist, most recently at the University of California, San Diego. He was married to astrophysicist Margaret Burbidge and was the second author of the influential BFH paper which she led.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Margaret Burbidge in the context of Stellar nucleosynthesis

In astrophysics, stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a predictive theory, it yields accurate estimates of the observed abundances of the elements. It explains why the observed abundances of elements change over time and why some elements and their isotopes are much more abundant than others. The theory was initially proposed by Fred Hoyle in 1946, who later refined it in 1954. Further advances were made, especially to nucleosynthesis by neutron capture of the elements heavier than iron, by Margaret and Geoffrey Burbidge, William Alfred Fowler and Fred Hoyle in their famous 1957 BFH paper, which became one of the most heavily cited papers in astrophysics history.

Stars evolve because of changes in their composition (the abundance of their constituent elements) over their lifespans, first by burning hydrogen (main sequence star), then helium (horizontal branch star), and progressively burning higher elements. However, this does not by itself significantly alter the abundances of elements in the universe as the elements are contained within the star. Later in its life, a low-mass star will slowly eject its atmosphere via stellar wind, forming a planetary nebula, while a higher–mass star will eject mass via a sudden catastrophic event called a supernova. The term supernova nucleosynthesis is used to describe the creation of elements during the explosion of a massive star or white dwarf.

↑ Return to Menu

Margaret Burbidge in the context of B2FH paper

The BFH paper was a landmark scientific paper on the origin of the chemical elements. The paper's title is Synthesis of the Elements in Stars, but it became known as BFH from the initials of its authors: Margaret Burbidge, Geoffrey Burbidge, William A. Fowler, and Fred Hoyle. It was written from 1955 to 1956 at the University of Cambridge and Caltech and published in Reviews of Modern Physics in 1957.

The BFH paper reviewed stellar nucleosynthesis theory and supported it with astronomical and laboratory data. It identified nucleosynthesis processes that are responsible for producing the elements heavier than iron and explained their relative abundances. The paper became highly influential in both astronomy and nuclear physics.

↑ Return to Menu
LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Stellar nucleosynthesis ← Geoffrey Burbidge ← B2FH paper ← Hydrogen burning ← Hydrogen fusion ← Stellar fusion
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Fellow of the Royal Society → Birth name → Observational astronomer → Astrophysicist → Stellar nucleosynthesis → First author → B2FH paper → Rotation curves → Quasars → Most distant astronomical object → Faint Object Spectrograph → Hubble Space Telescope → Discrimination against women → Positive discrimination → Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory → American Astronomical Society → President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science → UCL Observatory → Yerkes Observatory → University of Chicago → Cavendish Laboratory → University of Cambridge → California Institute of Technology → University of California San Diego →