Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin was a British-born American astronomer and astrophysicist who

proposed that stars were composed of hydrogen and helium in her doctoral thesis.
Her conclusion was initially rejected because of the scientific wisdom of the time, which held
that there were no significant elemental differences between the Sun and Earth.
Independent observations eventually proved she was correct.
She is known for explanation of stellar spectra and composition of the Sun, more than
3,000,000 observations of variable stars.

Cecilia Payne began school in Wendover at a private school. When she was twelve her
mother moved to London. Cecilia attended St Paul's Girls' School. The following year she
won a scholarship that paid all her expenses at Newnham College, Cambridge University,
She completed her studies, but was not awarded because Cambridge did not grant degrees
to women until 1948.

in 1925 she became the first person to earn a PhD in astronomy from Radcliffe College of
Harvard University.Her thesis title was Stellar Atmospheres; A Contribution to the
Observational Study of High Temperature in the Reversing Layers of Stars.

Cecilia Payne remained scientifically active throughout her life, spending her entire
academic career at Harvard. In 1938 she was given the title of "Astronomer." She also
became the first woman to head a department at Harvard.