Ruby-Payne Scott: Pioneer of Modern Radio Astronomy

This is a presentation on a woman scientist Ruby Payne Scott. She was the first woman in radio astronomy and a pioneer of modern radio astronomy. It's her story of great achievement and struggles as a woman scientist. Her journey starts as a World War II scientist. I deliver you a 5 min presentation.

1. Ruby Payne-ScottRuby Payne-ScottRuby Payne-Scott

2. Joined CSIR's Radiophysics
Lab, developing radar
technology during WWII
1912: Born in Grafton, New South Wales, Australia
1936: Master's degree in Physics, University of Sydney
1939-1941: Worked on cancer research and radiation treatment
1941
only two female physicists in her lab,

3. Ruby faced opposition for wearing shorts
Workplace rules prohibited women from smoking
Fighting for her workplace rights
The Australian Public Service enforced a marriage
ban on women
Ruby married Bill Hall in 1944 and kept it secret to retain
her job
She was an atheist, a feminist, and an advocate for
women's rights

4. During WWII, radar operators used similar interference patterns
to detect airplanes, with waves bouncing off the ocean acting as
a mirror
Ruby realized this technique could be adapted to pinpoint radio
bursts from the sun
Few days later, a new cluster of sunspots sent radio waves sweeping
over earth. Huge geomagnetic storms. Her team turned the antennas
towards the Sun at dawn to measure interference patterns.
Fourier transform of this pattern related to the Sun's radio intensity
distribution.
manually calculated a 1D radio image of the Sun, comparing it to
an optical image from Mt Stromlo. It showed that radio emissions
aligned with sunspots
1946, one day Ruby drove to a cliff to observe sunrise. Ruby saw fringes).

5. seven years as a radio astronomer
Payne-Scott focused on these 'burst' radio
emissions from the Sun
Credited with discovering Type I and III bursts
She also helped to gather data for Types II and IV
burst and characterize them.
They also measured the temperature of the sun’s
corona

6. 1951, Ruby became pregnant again and, with no maternity
leave available, had to quit her job
At the age of 39, she left radio astronomy
1949: Australian government reversed a wartime policy that had
raised women’s salaries.
Ruby got pregnant but soon suffered a miscarriage. She returned
to her work in 1947
1950, Ruby's secret marriage was discovered
Ruby was demoted to a temporary position and lost her job
as a permanent employee.

7. Australian researcher in probability
theory and mathematical statistics
Australian artistic
photographer and sculptor
Very Large Array (VLA) , New Mexico.
Making Waves: The Story of Ruby Payne-Scott:
Australian Pioneer Radio Astronomer
BOOK by Miller Goss
Her story is yet another example of a woman who is forced out of science because of sexist policies and
a lack of support
Fiona Hall
Peter Gavin Hall