Sarah Lee Lippincott facts for kids

Sarah Lee Lippincott (born October 26, 1920 – died February 28, 2019) was an American astronomer. She was also known as Sarah Lee Lippincott Zimmerman. She taught astronomy at Swarthmore College. She was also the director of the college's Sproul Observatory.

Sarah Lee Lippincott was a pioneer in using a method called astrometry. This method helps astronomers study binary stars. She also used it to search for planets outside our solar system, called extrasolar planets.

Becoming an Astronomer

Lippincott studied at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1941. After that, she went to Swarthmore College. There, she received her Master of Arts degree in 1942.

Her Life and Work

Sarah Lee Lippincott was born in 1920. When she was in college in the 1940s, she played on the women's basketball team.

After finishing her studies, Lippincott worked closely with another astronomer, Peter van de Kamp. They worked together on many astrometry projects. This was from 1945 until he retired in 1972. After his retirement, she became the director of the Sproul Observatory.

She met Dave Garroway, who was the first host of the Today show on NBC. He was very interested in astronomy. They met during a trip to observatories in the Soviet Union that she was leading.

Lippincott used astrometric studies to look at nearby stars. She worked with van de Kamp to search for extrasolar planets. In 1951, she suggested that the star Lalande 21185 might have a small companion planet. She also made similar suggestions for other stars.

While her ideas about very small planets were not confirmed, her methods were very useful. She successfully used these techniques to study many binary star systems. For example, her calculations in 1951 helped find the second star in the Ross 614 binary system. These calculations helped Walter Baade see this binary system clearly for the first time. He used the powerful 5 m (200 in) Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California.

In 2009, she attended a special event. It was for the new Peter van de Kamp observatory at Swarthmore College. She passed away on February 28, 2019.

Awards and Recognition

• In 1966, she received an award from Kappa Kappa Gamma. This was the Alumnae Achievement Award.
• In 1973, she received an honorary doctor of science degree. This was from Villanova University.
• In 1976, she was chosen as one of the Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania.

See also

In Spanish: Sarah Lee Lippincott para niños