Louise Freeland Jenkins (July 5, 1888 – May 9, 1970) was an American

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

who compiled a valuable catalogue of stars within 10 parsecs of the sun, as well as editing the 3rd edition of the Yale Bright Star Catalogue. She was born in

Fitchburg, Massachusetts Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Fitchburg State University is located here. History ...

. In 1911 she graduated from

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

, then she received a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

in 1917 from the same institution. From 1913 to 1915 she worked at the

Allegheny Observatory The Allegheny Observatory is an American astronomical research institution, a part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh. The facility is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (ref. # 79002157, a ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Afterwards, she was an instructor at Mount Holyoke from 1915 to 1920. About 1921 she moved to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, becoming a teacher at the Women's Christian College, a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

school. She returned to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1925 after her father died. A year later she returned to teach at a school in

Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is ...

. (Hinomoto Gakuen girl's

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

.) In 1932 she returned to the US and became a staff member at

Yale University Observatory The Yale University Observatory, also known as the Leitner Family Observatory and Planetarium, is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Yale University, and maintained for student use. It is located in Farnham Memorial Gardens near the ...

. She was co-editor of the ''

Astronomical Journal ''The Astronomical Journal'' (often abbreviated ''AJ'' in scientific papers and references) is a peer-reviewed monthly scientific journal owned by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and currently published by IOP Publishing. It is one of the ...

'' starting in 1942, and continued in this post until 1958. She would return to visit Japan later in her life. She was noted for her research into the trigonometric

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different sightline, lines of sight and is measured by the angle or half-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to perspective (graphica ...

of nearby stars. She also studied

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are ...

Bibliography

Frank Schlesinger Frank Schlesinger (May 11, 1871 – July 10, 1943) was an American astronomer. His work concentrated on using photographic plates rather than direct visual studies for astronomical research. Biography Schlesinger was born in New York City and a ...

and Louise F. Jenkins, ''Yale Bright Star Catalogue'', 2nd edition. * Louise F. Jenkins,
General Catalogue of Trigonometric Stellar Parallaxes
', Yale University Observatory, New Haven, Connecticut, 1952. Supplement 1963.

Honors

* The crater

Jenkins Jenkins may refer to: People * Jenkins (name), history of the surname * List of people with surname Jenkins * The Jenkins, country music group Places United States * Jenkins, Illinois *Jenkins, Kentucky * Jenkins, Minnesota * Jenkins, Missour ...

on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

is named after her.

References

* Sei-Ichi Sakuma,
Louise F. Jenkins, Astronomer and Missionary in Japan
', Journal of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, vol. 14, no. 2, p. 67-68.

External links

including portrait image.
Hinomoto Gakuen Senior High School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Louise Freeland American women astronomers 1888 births 1970 deaths Mount Holyoke College alumni 20th-century American women scientists People from Fitchburg, Massachusetts 20th-century American scientists