A. Grace Cook facts for kids
Alice Grace Cook (born February 18, 1877, died May 27, 1958) was a British astronomer. She was also known as Grace Cook. Grace lived in a town called Stowmarket in Suffolk, England. Her friends and co-workers remembered her as a very good and hardworking observer of the sky. In 2021, a new school in Stowmarket was named after her.
Grace Cook's Work in Astronomy
Grace Cook became interested in astronomy in 1909. She went to some talks about space given by Joseph Hardcastle. She liked them so much that she joined the British Astronomical Association in 1911. Joseph Hardcastle invited her to join.
From her own observatory, Grace watched a special event in 1914. This was the transit of Mercury. A transit happens when a planet passes directly in front of the Sun. It looks like a tiny black dot moving across the Sun's face.
In 1916, Grace Cook made history. She was one of the first women to become a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. This is a very important group for astronomers. Another famous astronomer, W F Denning, suggested her for this honor.
Grace worked with Joseph Alfred Hardcastle on a big project. They looked at 206 special photos of the sky. These photos were part of the John Franklin-Adams photographic survey. They found and described 785 objects in space. These objects are listed in the New General Catalogue.
Grace was also very famous for watching meteors. Meteors are often called "shooting stars." She also observed things you can see without a telescope. These included the zodiacal light and aurorae. The zodiacal light is a faint glow in the night sky. Aurorae are beautiful lights in the sky, like the Northern Lights.
During World War I, Grace Cook helped lead the British Astronomical Association's Meteor Section. She worked with another astronomer named Fiammetta Wilson. Grace also watched comets and new stars called novae in the Milky Way. She was one of the first people to see V603 Aquilae. This nova was discovered in June 1918.
Because of her amazing work, Grace received an award. It was called the Edward C. Pickering Fellowship. She got it from the Maria Mitchell Association in 1920–1921. From 1921 to 1923, Grace Cook was the only director of the Meteor Section. She attended the Royal Astronomical Society's 100th birthday party in 1922. She is in the group photo from that day.
See also
In Spanish: Alice Grace Cook para niños
