Which astronomer became the first woman to win the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy, in 1934?

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin became the first woman to win the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy in 1934.

The award was presented by the American Astronomical Society to recognize outstanding research by a woman astronomer early in her career. Payne-Gaposchkin received it after her influential work on stellar atmospheres and stellar composition.

Her 1925 doctoral thesis argued that stars are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. At the time, many astronomers believed stars had compositions more similar to Earth. Payne’s analysis was initially questioned, but later observations confirmed her conclusion.

Payne-Gaposchkin later became the first woman to head a department at Harvard University, serving as chair of the Department of Astronomy from 1956. She also studied variable stars and the structure of the Milky Way.