Google honoured Italian astrophysicist Margherita Hack with a doodle on her 99th birth anniversary on Saturday. She had discovered the asteroid 8558 Hack, which was named in her honour. Today’s Google Doodle shows Hack looking into her telescope while sitting on a chair. The asteroid 8558 Hack can be seen rotating in the animated doodle.
“Today’s Doodle celebrates the 99th birthday of Italian professor, activist, author, and astrophysicist ‘The Lady of the Stars’ Margherita Hack,” said Google. “Thank you for inspiring future generations to shoot for the stars!” it said.
Margherita Hack was born on June 12, 1922, in Florence and was a full professor of astronomy at the University of Trieste. She just took one university class in literature after which she switched her major to physics. Her graduation thesis in astrophysics was on Cepheid variables, based on her studies in the Arcetri Observatory. She has also been the first Italian woman to administrate the Trieste Astronomical Observatory from 1964 to 1987.
Hack’s main field of expertise concerned the observation and interpretation of the spectroscopic characteristics of stars.
Her innovations at Trieste’s Observatory earned her recognition in the astronomical community, along with memberships at NASA and European Space Agency. In 1994, she was awarded the Targa Giuseppe Piazzi for her scientific research. She was honoured with the Cortina Ulisse Prize for scientific dissemination in 1995.
On her 90th birthday, the Italian government honoured Hack with its highest award – the title of Dama di Gran Croce. She died on June 29, 2013, at the age of 91.
