Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Henrietta Leavitt Calibrates the Stars

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 27, 1998 is “Henrietta Leavitt Calibrates the Stars,” an image. It is credited to Credit: AAVSO. The original explanation runs about 84 words.

Henrietta Leavitt Calibrates the Stars
Credit: AAVSO Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Humanity’s understanding of the relative brightness and variability of stars was revolutionized by the work of Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868-1921). Working at Harvard College Observatory , Leavitt precisely calibrated the photographic magnitudes of 47 stars to which all other stars could be compared.”

— APOD editors, October 27, 1998

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
October 27, 1998
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: AAVSO
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 84 words

All of October 1998 → · 1998 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

On this day: October 27 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.