Williamina Fleming — Questions and answers

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What was Williamina Fleming's original job when she first started working?

Choices

  1. A. A housekeeper ✓
  2. B. A teacher
  3. C. A librarian
  4. D. A doctor

Answer: A. A housekeeper

From page 1

What was the big problem astronomers faced with all the photographic plates before Fleming's system?

Choices

  1. A. They didn't have enough telescopes to take pictures.
  2. B. There was too much disorganized and chaotic data. ✓
  3. C. The stars were too dim to be seen clearly on the plates.
  4. D. They couldn't develop the photographic plates fast enough.

Answer: B. There was too much disorganized and chaotic data.

From page 2

What were the women hired by Edward Pickering to examine photographic plates often called?

Choices

  1. A. Pickering's Assistants
  2. B. The 'Harvard Computers' ✓
  3. C. The Star Gazers
  4. D. The Cosmic Scribes

Answer: B. The 'Harvard Computers'

From page 3

How did Williamina Fleming get her scientific job at the Harvard College Observatory?

Choices

  1. A. She studied astronomy in college.
  2. B. Edward Pickering, her employer, thought she could do better than his frustrated male assistants. ✓
  3. C. She applied for a job through an advertisement.
  4. D. Her husband helped her get a position.

Answer: B. Edward Pickering, her employer, thought she could do better than his frustrated male assistants.

From page 4

What was the main technique Williamina Fleming used to sort and understand stars?

Choices

  1. A. Looking at stars through a giant telescope.
  2. B. Spectral classification, which looks at the light stars give off. ✓
  3. C. Drawing pictures of stars she saw in the sky.
  4. D. Counting how many stars were in each constellation.

Answer: B. Spectral classification, which looks at the light stars give off.

From page 5

What word did Williamina Fleming use in her logbook to describe the unusual star 40 Eridani B?

Choices

  1. A. Unique
  2. B. Strange
  3. C. Peculiar ✓
  4. D. Unexplained

Answer: C. Peculiar

From page 6

Which classification sequence, built on Fleming's work, is still used by astronomers today?

Choices

  1. A. The Alpha-Beta-Gamma system
  2. B. The OBAFGKM classification sequence ✓
  3. C. The 1-2-3-4 star chart
  4. D. The Universal Star Index

Answer: B. The OBAFGKM classification sequence

From page 8

Besides her scientific discoveries, what important role did Williamina Fleming achieve that inspired other women?

Choices

  1. A. She became a famous painter.
  2. B. She became the Curator of Astronomical Photographs. ✓
  3. C. She owned her own telescope company.
  4. D. She became a school principal.

Answer: B. She became the Curator of Astronomical Photographs.

From page 9

What else did Williamina Fleming's work highlight, besides helping us understand the universe?

Choices

  1. A. The importance of having many telescopes.
  2. B. That only people with formal training can do science.
  3. C. The great potential of people often left out of science. ✓
  4. D. That studying stars is an easy job.

Answer: C. The great potential of people often left out of science.

From page 10