Vera Rubin

Vera Rubin was an American astronomer. She was born in Philadelphia in 1928. She discovered that galaxies spin in a way that can only be explained by invisible matter. This invisible stuff is called dark matter.

Early Life

Rubin loved watching the stars from her bedroom window as a child. She built her own telescope with her father. She was the only woman in her astronomy class at Cornell University. Many people tried to discourage her, but she kept going.

A NASA map of the early cosmos where galaxies like Rubin studied began.
A NASA map of the early cosmos where galaxies like Rubin studied began. (NASA / WMAP Science Team / Wikimedia Commons)

Big Discoveries

Rubin studied how galaxies rotate. She found that the outer parts spin just as fast as the inner parts. This could only be explained if there was invisible matter holding them together. She proved that dark matter makes up most of the universe.

Fun Facts

  • Rubin was the first woman allowed to observe at the famous Palomar Observatory.
  • Dark matter makes up about 27 percent of the universe.
  • She had to use a men's restroom at Palomar because there was no women's room.

Did You Know?

Rubin once said she hoped to be remembered as an astronomer who happened to be a woman. She opened doors for many women in science.