Ruth J. Northcott
{{short description|Canadian astronomer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ruth J. Northcott
| image = RuthJNorthcott1962.jpg
| alt = White woman with pale hair, black-and-white newspaper photo.
| caption = Ruth J. Northcott, from a 1962 newspaper photograph.
| birth_date = March 6, 1913
| birth_place = Solina, Ontario
| death_date = July 29, 1969
| death_place =
| nationality = Canadian
| alma_mater = University of Toronto
| occupation = astronomer
}}
Ruth Josephine Northcott (March 6, 1913 – July 29, 1969) was a Canadian astronomer based at the David Dunlap Observatory, and president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada from 1962 to 1964. Asteroid 3670 Northcott is named for her.
Early life
Ruth Josephine Northcott was born in Solina, Ontario. She attended the University of Toronto, graduating in 1934, and earning a master's degree in 1935.{{Cite journal|last=Heard|first=John F.|date=October 1969|title=Ruth Josephine Northcott|journal=Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada|volume=63|pages=225–226|bibcode=1969JRASC..63..225H}}
Career
When the David Dunlap Observatory opened in 1935, Ruth Northcott was part of the starting staff, initially as a research assistant.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rasc.ca/ruth-northcott|title=Ruth Northcott|last=Broughton|first=Peter|website=Royal Astronomical Society of Canada|access-date=2019-06-11}} She later held the rank of Lecturer, and then Associate Professor of Astronomy.Larsen, Kristine. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uJwYBwAAQBAJ&dq=Ruth+Northcott+astronomy&pg=PA208 "Athens and Urania: The Experiences of Women Astronomers During World War II"] in Karen A. Ritzenhoff and Katherine A. Hermes, eds., Sex and Sexuality in a Feminist World (Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2009): 208. {{ISBN|9781443804264|}} She was elected to membership in the International Astronomical Union in 1952, and served on the IAU's committee on the history of astronomy.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DpM8AAAAIAAJ&q=Ruth+J.+Northcott&pg=PA592|title=Transactions of the International Astronomical Union|publisher=CUP Archive|pages=592|language=en}} She was also an active member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lWDlG_CppAQC&q=Ruth+J.+Northcott&pg=PA141|title=Advancing Variable Star Astronomy: The Centennial History of the American Association of Variable Star Observers|last1=Williams|first1=Thomas R.|last2=Saladyga|first2=Michael|date=2011-05-26|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139496346|pages=141|language=en}} and she helped to found the Richmond Hill Naturalists.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rhnaturalists.ca/2008/05/full-circle-amateur-astronomers-join-richmond-hill-naturalists/|title=Full Circle: Amateur Astronomers Join Richmond Hill Naturalists|last=Yake|first=Marianne|date=May 2008|website=Richmond Hill Naturalists|access-date=2019-06-11}}
She was especially active in the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC), serving as president of the Toronto Centre during World War II, and as third woman elected president of the national society,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32765483/ruth_j_northcott_1963/|title=She Studies the Stars|last=Strachan|first=Jean|date=October 17, 1963|work=Ottawa Citizen|access-date=June 11, 2019|page=37|via=Newspapers.com}} in 1962{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32766429/ruth_j_northcott_1962/|title=Star-Gazers Attend Illustrated Lecture|date=September 19, 1962|work=The Windsor Star|access-date=June 11, 2019|page=2|via=Newspapers.com}} and 1963,{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/science-clipping-mar-28-1962-1217845/|title=Woman Astronomer Makes Friends of Stars|last=Scott|first=David|date=March 28, 1962|work=Winnipeg Free Press|access-date=June 11, 2019|page=20|via=NewspaperArchive.com}} and as a member of the executive committee from 1965. She was assistant editor of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada beginning in 1951, and became the journal's editor in 1956. She won the RASC Service Award in 1967. She was editor of RASC's The Observer's Handbook (1968), a manual for amateur astronomers, and Astronomy in Canada: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1967).
Her research involved variable stars, binary stars, and spectroscopy,{{Cite journal|last1=Heard|first1=John Frederick|last2=Northcott|first2=Ruth J.|date=1934|title=The Orbits of Three K-Type Spectroscopic Binaries|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|volume=80|pages=181|doi=10.1086/143596|issn=0004-637X|bibcode=1934ApJ....80..181C|doi-access=free}} but she wrote on a variety of topics for the RASC journal, including "The Visibility of the Planet Mercury" (1965).{{Cite journal|last=Northcott|first=Ruth J.|date=January 1965|title=The Visibility of the Planet Mercury|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234211704|journal=The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada|volume=59|pages=28|bibcode=1965JRASC..59...28N}} "I get a great deal of pleasure and a certain degree of excitement from investigating the stars," she told a Winnipeg newspaper in 1962.
Personal life
Ruth J. Northcott died in 1969, aged 56 years. Fellow astronomer Helen Sawyer Hogg was executor of Northcott's estate. Many of Northcott's papers and photographs are in the University of Toronto Archives.{{Cite web|url=https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ruth-josephine-northcott-fonds|title=Ruth J. Northcott fonds|website=University of Toronto Discover Archives|access-date=2019-06-11}} There is a biennial Ruth Northcott Memorial Lecture presented by RASC.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stanrsst.ca/single-post/2017/05/25/2017-Ruth-Northcott-Memorial-Lecture-presented-by-the-Royal-Astronomical-Society-of-Canada|title=2017 Ruth Northcott Memorial Lecture presented by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada|last=Cole|first=Tim|date=May 23, 2017|website=Science and Technology Awareness Network (STAN)|language=en|access-date=2019-06-11}}{{Cite web|url=https://rascto.ca/content/rasc-ga-ruth-northcott-memorial-lecture-apollo-celebration|title=Ruth Northcott Memorial Lecture - First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong|website=RASC Toronto|access-date=2019-06-11}} Asteroid 3670 Northcott, discovered in 1983, is named for her.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eHv1CAAAQBAJ&q=3670+Northcott&pg=PA482|title=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names|last=Schmadel|first=Lutz D.|date=2013-11-11|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9783662066157|pages=482|language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Find a Grave|id=140621267|name=}}
- [https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ruth-josephine-northcott-fonds Ruth Josephine Northcott archival papers] held at the [https://utarms.library.utoronto.ca/ University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Northcott, Ruth J.}}
Category:20th-century Canadian astronomers
Category:Canadian women astronomers
Category:University of Toronto alumni
Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto
Category:20th-century Canadian women scientists
Category:Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada