16 Facts About Dorothea Klumpke

Dorothea Klumpke Roberts was an American astronomer.

Dorothea Klumpke was the Director of the Bureau of Measurements at the Paris Observatory and was made a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, or a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor.

Dorothea Klumpke married Dorothea Mathilda Tolle in 1855, and the couple had five daughters and two sons.

In 1877, Dorothea Klumpke moved to Paris, France, while her four sisters attended schools in Germany and Switzerland.

Dorothea Klumpke began by studying music, but later turned to astronomy.

Dorothea Klumpke earned her bachelor's degree in 1886 and her PhD in 1893, with her dissertation focusing on the rings of Saturn.

Dorothea Klumpke's work consisted of measuring star positions, processing astrophotographs, and studying stellar spectra and meteorites.

Dorothea Klumpke was appointed the Director of the Bureau of Measurements at the Paris Observatory, a position she held for a decade.

Dorothea Klumpke supervised several other women scientists during this time.

Dorothea Klumpke had attended the Paris Carte du Ciel Congress.

The French chose Dorothea Klumpke to be the one to ride in a balloon to observe the shower.

Dorothea Klumpke returned to Paris Observatory and spent 25 years processing the plates and her husband's notes, periodically publishing papers on the results.

Dorothea Klumpke was awarded the Helene-Paul Helbronner prize in 1932 from the French Academy of Sciences for this publication.

Dorothea Klumpke Roberts died on October 5,1942, having been in poor health for a number of years.

Dorothea Klumpke was the first recipient of the "Prix de Dames" from the Societe astronomique de France in 1897, and in 1893 was made an Officier d'Academe of the French Academy of Sciences - up to that time, these honors had not been awarded to a woman.

Dorothea Klumpke made endowments to the Paris Observatory, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and the University of California to be granted to aspiring astronomers.