Muriel E. Mussells Seyfert (born Muriel Elizabeth Mussells, February 3, 1909 – November 9, 1997) was an American astronomer best known for discovering a "ring nebulae" (planetary nebulae) in the Milky Way while working at the Harvard College Observatory in 1936 as a human computer.

The discovery was picked up by the newswires and reported in newspapers across the country. Articles described the objects as "tremendous rings of star-dust" and that "each is believed to be hundreds of times larger than our entire solar system.".[1]

Early life

Muriel was born on February 3, 1909, in Danvers, Massachusetts, the daughter of George and Stella Mussells.[2] She attended Radcliffe College for her undergraduate degree, graduating[3] in 1931.

Scientific contributions

Mussells Seyfert was employed as a human computer at the Harvard College Observatory. By examining photographic plates taken at Harvard's astronomical station at Bloemfontain, South Africa, she discovered three new ring nebulae in the Milky Way galaxy in the mid-1930s.[4][5]

Artist

After moving to Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, Muriel pursued painting and maintained her art studio in the observatory residence (which has since become known as Muriel's Retreat in her honor).[6] While at Dyer, she continued astronomical research, raised two children, kept an active art studio in the observatory residence (which is now known as Muriel's Retreat in her honor), and was a renowned equestrienne.[1] Two of her portraits, one of observatory namesake Arthur Dyer and another of her husband, the first observatory director Carl Keenan Seyfert, are located in the Dyer Observatory in a stairway leading up to the Seyfert Telescope.[4][6]

On March 18, 1952, a one-night art show of her art work was held at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.[6]

Personal life

On May 20, 1935, Muriel married Carl Keenan Seyfert who was the founder and first director of Vanderbilt University's Dyer Observatory in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Seyfert galaxies and Seyfert's Sextet would later be named after him. The couple had two children.[4][7]

Muriel's sister, Sylvia Mussells Lindsay, also worked as a Harvard computer and discovered the first dwarf galaxy, the Sculptor system. She married astronomer Eric Mervyn Lindsay.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Cate Marian (April 7, 2020). "Muriel Mussells Seyfert – Jack of All Trades". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  2. ^ McFarland, John (1 February 2004). "A modern vision: Eric Lindsay at Armagh". Oxford Journal. 45 (1): 18–22. doi:10.1046/j.1468-4004.2003.45118.x. ISSN 1468-4004.
  3. ^ "Muriel E. Seyfert". Wolbach Library. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  4. ^ a b c "Muriel Mussells Seyfert – Jack of All Trades". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  5. ^ Fuller, Wesley (1936-03-16). "Muriel E. Mussells Seyfert (b. 1909)". SIA Collections. Smithsonian Institution Archives. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  6. ^ a b c "Muriel Mussells Seyfert – Artist". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  7. ^ "Eric Mervyn Lindsay". Lindsay's International. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  8. ^ John McFarland (February 2004). "A modern vision: Eric Lindsay at Armagh". Astronomy & Geophysics. 45 (1): 1.18 – 1.22. doi:10.1046/j.1468-4004.2003.45118.x.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muriel_Mussells_Seyfert
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