Anne Barbara Underhill facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Anne Barbara Underhill FRSC
Anne Underhill, Utrecht Observatory, the Netherlands, December 1967
Born	(1920-06-12)12 June 1920 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Died	3 July 2003(2003-07-03) (aged 83) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Alma mater	University of British Columbia University of Chicago
Known for	early-type star research
Awards	Honorary Degree, University of York (1969) FRSC (1985) D.S. Beals Award (1985) D.Sc University of British Columbia (1992)
Scientific career
Institutions	Dominion Astrophysical Observatory Utrecht University NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Thesis	(1948)
Doctoral advisor	Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Anne Barbara Underhill (born June 12, 1920, died July 3, 2003) was a famous Canadian astrophysicist. An astrophysicist studies stars, planets, and space using physics. Anne was best known for her important work on early-type stars. These are very hot, bright, and often blue stars. She was seen as one of the top experts in this area worldwide. She received many awards for her amazing contributions to astronomy and astrophysics throughout her life.

Growing Up

Anne Underhill grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was the only girl in a family of five children. Her parents, Irene Anna and Frederic Clare Underhill, had moved to Canada from Europe. Her father was a civil engineer.

In high school, Anne was a brilliant student. She received the Lieutenant Governor's medal for her excellent school performance. This award is given to students who achieve great things in their studies.

Anne was very close with her twin brother and her three younger brothers. When she was 18, her mother passed away. Anne helped to care for her younger brothers. Sadly, in 1944, her twin brother was killed during World War II.

Her Studies

Anne Underhill loved learning. She went to the University of British Columbia. In 1942, she earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts with honors, in chemistry. She continued her studies there and received a master's degree in physics and mathematics in 1944.

After her master's degree, Anne received a big scholarship from the Canadian Federation of University Women. This helped her to enroll at the University of Toronto. However, she decided to leave after a year. She felt that the university's astrophysics program was not strong enough at that time.

She then went to the University of Chicago in the United States. In 1948, she earned her Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) there. Her supervisor was the very famous astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. For her Ph.D., Anne studied how stars have many layers in their atmospheres. She created the first model to explain this idea.

Her Career

After getting her Ph.D., Anne worked at the Copenhagen Observatory in Denmark from 1948 to 1949. This was a special research position called an NRC Postdoctoral Fellowship.

In 1949, Anne returned to Canada. She took a job as a research scientist at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO) in Victoria. She worked there until 1962. During this time, she also taught as a visiting professor at important universities like Harvard and Princeton. At Princeton, she used their computers to write programs that helped her study the atmospheres of stars.

While at the DAO, Anne faced some challenges. She was treated unfairly by some of her male colleagues. They limited her responsibilities, giving more important tasks to male co-workers who were less qualified.

In 1962, Anne received an unexpected job offer. Utrecht University in the Netherlands offered her a position as a full professor in astrophysics. It was a difficult decision to leave Canada, even with the unfair treatment she had experienced. She decided to take the job. At Utrecht University, she taught advanced classes to graduate students. She also published an important book called The Early Type Stars.

In 1970, Anne received another exciting job offer. This time, it was from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the United States. She worked there for 15 years until she retired.

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  Anne Underhill in the library of Sonnenborgh, Utrecht Observatory, 1962-1965

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  Anne Underhill with colleagues and students at the annual Sinterklaas party, Utrecht Observatory, 1967

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  Sinterklaas party. A Zwarte Piet (a black pete, a joker chimney sweep) presents Underhill with a surprise gift, Utrecht Observatory, 1967

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  Anne Underhill and Vera Doazan: B stars with and without emission lines, NASA SP-456, 1982

See Also

In Spanish: Anne Barbara Underhill para niños