Mary Lea Heger
Encyclopedia
Mary Lea Shane
Born: Mary Lea Heger on July 13, 1897 in Wilmington, Delaware
.
Married C. Donald Shane in 1920 and was a mother of two.
Accredited with founding the Lick Observatory
Archives located in the Dean E. McHenry Library. In 1982, Her monument at Lick was renamed the Mary Lea Shane Archives of Lick Observatory.
During childhood, Mary Lea Heger's family moved west to Belvedere on the San Francisco Bay
where she spent her youth.
Heger received her bachelor's degree in 1919 from the University of California, Berkeley
, becoming a graduate student in astronomy. After marrying C. Donald Shane in 1920 she completed her PhD in 1924, writing a thesis under the supervision of W.W. Campbell
at Lick Observatory that was one of the first papers to recognize the sharp, stationary Na I absorption lines
in the spectra of distant binaries as interstellar in origin.
Deciding to focus on raising her two small children, Heger gave up the notion of a professional career. At the end of World War II
when her husband became director of Lick Observatory, Heger became a well known scientific hostess and was remembered for her generous hospitality.
Mary Lea Shane died on her birthday of a heart attack
at her home in Scotts Valley, California
on July 13, 1983. She was eighty-six years old.
Born: Mary Lea Heger on July 13, 1897 in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
.
Married C. Donald Shane in 1920 and was a mother of two.
Accredited with founding the Lick Observatory
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...
Archives located in the Dean E. McHenry Library. In 1982, Her monument at Lick was renamed the Mary Lea Shane Archives of Lick Observatory.
During childhood, Mary Lea Heger's family moved west to Belvedere on the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
where she spent her youth.
Heger received her bachelor's degree in 1919 from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, becoming a graduate student in astronomy. After marrying C. Donald Shane in 1920 she completed her PhD in 1924, writing a thesis under the supervision of W.W. Campbell
William Wallace Campbell
William Wallace Campbell was an American astronomer, and director of Lick Observatory from 1900 to 1930. He specialized in spectroscopy.-Biography:...
at Lick Observatory that was one of the first papers to recognize the sharp, stationary Na I absorption lines
Spectral line
A spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from a deficiency or excess of photons in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies.- Types of line spectra :...
in the spectra of distant binaries as interstellar in origin.
Deciding to focus on raising her two small children, Heger gave up the notion of a professional career. At the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when her husband became director of Lick Observatory, Heger became a well known scientific hostess and was remembered for her generous hospitality.
Mary Lea Shane died on her birthday of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at her home in Scotts Valley, California
Scotts Valley, California
Scotts Valley is a small city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, about thirty miles south of downtown San Jose and six miles north of Monterey Bay, in the upland slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,580...
on July 13, 1983. She was eighty-six years old.