Stars are mostly hydrogen and helium
Las estrellas están hechas principalmente de hidrógeno y helio
- Date
- 1925 · confidence high
- Place
- Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- Credited to
- Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
- People
- 👤 Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin1900–1979
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Applying Saha's ionisation theory to spectra, Payne demonstrated that hydrogen is a million times more abundant than assumed. Foundation of modern stellar astrophysics.
Russell dissuaded her from asserting it in her thesis and confirmed it himself in 1929.
What it led to
- Stellar nucleosynthesis
- Big Bang cosmology (primordial abundances)
- Models of stellar structure