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ASTRONOMER

Vera Rubin

1928 - 2016

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Vera Florence Cooper Rubin (; July 23, 1928 – December 25, 2016) was an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. She uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted and observed angular motion of galaxies by studying galactic rotation curves. Identifying the galaxy rotation problem, her work provided evidence for the existence of dark matter. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Vera Rubin has received more than 845,316 page views. Her biography is available in 50 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 47 in 2019). Vera Rubin is the 61st most popular astronomer (up from 88th in 2019), the 993rd most popular biography from United States (up from 1,263rd in 2019) and the 10th most popular American Astronomer.

Vera Rubin was an astronomer and professor of astronomy at Georgetown University. She was most famous for her discovery that galaxies rotate at the same speed regardless of their distance from Earth. This discovery contradicted the prevailing theory that stars farther away from Earth should be moving slower than those closer to Earth.

Memorability Metrics

  • 850k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 62.19

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 50

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 7.24

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.65

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among ASTRONOMERS

Among astronomers, Vera Rubin ranks 61 out of 531. Before her are John Flamsteed, Pierre Méchain, Girolamo Fracastoro, Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, Martin Ryle, and Jacques Cassini. After her are Percival Lowell, Ejnar Hertzsprung, Sosigenes of Alexandria, Gerard Kuiper, Riccardo Giacconi, and Heinrich Louis d'Arrest.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1928, Vera Rubin ranks 52. Before her are Peyo, Li Peng, Li Ka-shing, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Herbert Kroemer, and Francesco Cossiga. After her are Arnold Rüütel, Jacques Rivette, Pat Hitchcock, Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Kåre Willoch, and Karlheinz Böhm. Among people deceased in 2016, Vera Rubin ranks 51. Before her are Reinhard Selten, Zsa Zsa Gabor, George Kennedy, Ray Tomlinson, Junko Tabei, and Michel Galabru. After her are Ettore Scola, George Martin, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, Michèle Morgan, Jacques Rivette, and Harry Kroto.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Vera Rubin ranks 993 out of 18,182. Before her are George Dantzig (1914), Jerome Isaac Friedman (1930), Winona Ryder (1971), Frederick Herzberg (1923), Cyndi Lauper (1953), and Richard Thaler (1945). After her are Elliott Gould (1938), Richard Dreyfuss (1947), Willie Nelson (1933), Herbie Hancock (1940), George E. Smith (1930), and Frank B. Kellogg (1856).

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Among ASTRONOMERS In United States

Among astronomers born in United States, Vera Rubin ranks 10. Before her are Robert Woodrow Wilson (1936), William Alfred Fowler (1911), Charles Greeley Abbot (1872), Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868), Asaph Hall (1829), and Clyde Tombaugh (1906). After her are Percival Lowell (1855), Russell Alan Hulse (1950), Lewis A. Swift (1820), Edward Emerson Barnard (1857), Eugene Merle Shoemaker (1928), and Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr. (1941).

American born Astronomers

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