If to make a list of the greatest unsolved problems in physics, dark matter, probably it would be in the first place.
her first track was in 1933. Fritz Zwicky, a Swiss scientist, one of the most original astrofizyków of the last century, which was measured the speed of galaxies in the Coma cluster in the constellation of the Scythe, Bernice were. He tried to understand what makes this group more than thousands of galaxies that holds together, though, and revolve around each other at high speeds – an average of 1 thousand km per second. They move so rapidly that for a long time should break the tether of gravity, and all mass – to fall apart in all directions, as the chairs rotating carousel, which is suspended on the chain is too weak.
Zwicky recognized that this community needs to have more material than this point are visible in telescopes at the stars. This hypothetical invisible matter, dubbed “dark matter”. His hypothesis was then hardly astronomical exotic, I’m-crazy in which nobody really believed.
Only research Very Rubin at the Carnegie institution of Washington a few decades later convinced astrofizyków that in space there is some unknown, mysterious dark matter.
Rubin, along with his colleague Kent Ford at the turn of the 60-ies. 70. the last century has measured the speed of stars on the outskirts of the Andromeda Nebula, galaxies comparable to the milky Way. She was feeling the same way as the planets in the Solar System, stars more massive removed from the city center, moving slowly. With surprise, however, she found that the speed of near and far stars is the same.
Then ruby gave still rotation curves of more than 200 other galaxies. The results were similar – they pointed to the fact that not running the law of gravity or galaxies immersed in a cloud of dark matter. Stars “feel” the gravitational pull of something that is bigger and has a larger mass than what is seen in telescopes. So they move with high velocities.
the First results of their measurements and Rubin published in the early 70-ies. the last century, but only about 1980 most astrofizyków agreed with the disturbing idea that some galaxies contain unknown matter, which does not burn and does not absorb light. Just transparent. And weight up to 10 times more than the mass of all visible stars!
Current estimates show that dark matter is more than five times larger (by mass) than the known matter consists of elements, which we organized in the periodic table. For many years we are searching for particles, which it is composed. So far without success.
Vera Rubin was born 23 Jul 1928 in Philadelphia, his parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Vilnius, the mother of Moldova. Interested in astronomy at a very young age, despite the fact that, as mentioned, a teacher in the school, it rather discourages, that “stay away from the exact Sciences.” At the age of 14 built with the help of his father, an electrical engineer, your first telescope. The father took her to meetings of the Association of Amateur astronomers.
It’s because of my father I turned and she decided that she would study astronomy, although the corporate office Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania asked her to chose a more feminine direction, for example, paintings of astronomical themes
It was later in the year, the subject of family jokes. “When something went wrong in my scientific work, it was raining, don’t you sometimes thought about a career of painting…” says Rubin.
When you reject at Swarthmore studied astronomy at Vassar College (it was the only graduate in the direction of astronomy in 1948). Then wanted a huge to write a thesis at Princeton University, but it turned out that there astronomical study still do not accept women (it is only changed in 1971). Master’s degree received, so that at Cornell University, where she met her husband there he studied chemistry.
At Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., defended his thesis (in 1954) and she worked for several years before at the age of 36 has hired himself of the Carnegie institution in Washington. It achieved its greatest discoveries. Life has supported and encouraged young women to go in her footsteps and to study the exact Sciences.
she Tried to the national Academy of Sciences was adopted in its membership more than women (she was a member of the Academy in 1981, and was only there second astrofizyczką). In 1996 she received the prestigious medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (was the second woman in history, after Caroline Herschel noted this medal).
Her husband died in 2008. Left three sons and a daughter.
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