Merle Eleanor Gold (née Tuberg) (7 March 1921- 29 September 2017) was an American astrophysicist, best known for her study of the Sun with Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.[1]
Early life and education
Merle Gold was born on 7 March 1921 and grew up in Rochester, Minnesota to Nathaniel and Eleanor Tuberg.[2] She graduated high school in 1939 as Valedictorian of her class.[2] She trained as a medical secretary at Mayo Clinic for two years before undertaking her undergraduate degree at University of Chicago.[2] After graduating, she went on to complete her PhD in astrophysics under Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar at Yerkes Observatory.[1][2][3][4][5] Her thesis was on how absorption lines detected from the Sun vary across the solar disk.[3]
Research and career
In 1946, Merle was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at University of Cambridge.[2][1] She published one research paper after her thesis on the lifetimes of clusters of nebulae outside the Milky Way.[6][1] In 1971, she became an editor at Cornell School of Agriculture where she worked until her retirement.[2]
Personal life
She married astronomer Thomas Gold in 1947 and they had 3 children together before divorcing in 1971.[1][2] Merle died in Ithaca, New York on 29 September 2017.[2]
Notable publications
- Merle Tuberg. (November 1943). “On the Lifetime of Clusters of Extragalactic Nebulae”. Astrophysical Journal. 98. 501–503. doi: 10.1086/144582
- Merle Tuberg. (March 1946). “The Variations of Absorption-Line Contours across the Solar Disc”. Astrophysical Journal. 103. 145. doi:10.1086/144799
References
- ^ a b c d e SKY IS FOR EVERYONE : stories of women astronomers in their own words. [S.l.]: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS. 2022. pp. 18–19. ISBN 978-0-691-20710-0. OCLC 1267386671.
- ^ a b c d e f g h “Merle Eleanor Gold Obituary (1921 – 2017) Ithaca Journal”. Legacy.com. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ^ a b Tuberg, Merle (1946). “The Variations of Absorption-Line Contours across the Solar Disc”. The Astrophysical Journal. 103: 145. Bibcode:1946ApJ…103..145T. doi:10.1086/144799. ISSN 0004-637X.
- ^ “Merle Tuberg – The Mathematics Genealogy Project”. www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ^ “The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics | Alumni: Merle E. Tuberg, 1946”. astro.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ^ Tuberg, Merle (1943). “On the Lifetime of Clusters of Extragalactic Nebulae”. The Astrophysical Journal. 98: 501. Bibcode:1943ApJ….98..501T. doi:10.1086/144582. ISSN 0004-637X.
