Helen Sawyer Hogg (1905 – 1993)

Helen Sawyer Hogg was a respected astronomer and researcher who discovered more than 250 variable stars in globular clusters. Born in Massachusetts, Hogg earned her doctorate in astronomy at Harvard University before moving to Victoria with her Canadian husband. In 1935, Hogg joined the University of Toronto’s David Dunlap Observatory, where she was a research associate from 1936 until her death. In 1957, Hogg became the first woman to serve as president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. She is remembered for her weekly astronomy column in the Toronto Star newspaper, which ran for 30 years. The asteroid 2917 was named Asteroid Sawyer Hogg in 1984.

“They are so beautiful, these clusters, that sometimes I still catch my breath when I’m gazing at them through my telescope.”