Eleanor Margaret Burbidge, (née Peachey; 12 August 1919 – 5 April 2020) was a British-American observational astronomer and astrophysicist. In the 1950s, she was one of the founders of stellar nucleosynthesis and was first author of the influential B2FH paper. During the 1960s and 1970s she worked on galaxy rotation curves and quasars, discovering the most distant astronomical object then known. In the 1980s and 1990s she helped develop and utilise the Faint Object Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. Burbidge was also well known for her work opposing discrimination against women in astronomy while also opposing positive discrimination.
Margaret Burbidge, English-American astrophysicist and academic (died 2020)
On August 12, in the year 1919, Margaret Burbidge, English-American astrophysicist and academic (died 2020). This event is recorded as a Notable Births event in the history of August 12, one of 445 recorded events on this date across all of history.
1 notable person is associated with this event, including Margaret Burbidge. Learn more below.
Key Facts
- This event took place on August 12, 1919 (AD era).
- It is categorised as a Notable Births event in recorded history.
- Referenced in 1 Wikipedia article.
- 1 notable person is recorded as involved in or associated with this event.
- Wikipedia source last updated on 31 July 2026.
On This Date in History 445
This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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