The Role of Cecilia Payne in the stellar composition

The present work presents a historical account of British-American astrophysicist Cecilia Payne (1900–1979), whose personal trajectory was involved in difficulties faced as a woman in the search for recognition and academic ascension. It also exhibits her fundamental importance in the determination of the relative abundance of the chemical elements in the stars during her doctoral research in the 1920s. For that, we took as a basis publications of the time, made by the scientist herself and also by her peers, as well as later sources that deal with her life history and professional career. We understand that Payne’s doctoral thesis represents a milestone in Astrophysics, as it points to the high concentration of hydrogen and helium in the composition of the stellar atmospheres in relation to the other elements analyzed, a finding that contradicted the then current conception, in which metallic elements, such as iron, would have greater preponderance. Even in the face of this feat, currently seen as a pioneer, Cecilia Payne remained professionally undervalued for being a woman.

Keywords
Cecilia Payne; Women in Science; History of Science; Astrophysics.