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Google honours Margherita ‘The Lady of the Stars’ Hack with a doodle
Margherita Hack, whom Google honoured with a doodle, was born in Florence on June 12, 1922.
Google, today on June 12, celebrated the 99th birth anniversary of Margherita Hack with a doodle. A famous Italian professor, activist, author, and astrophysicist, she was born in Florence on June 12, 1922. The animated doodle shows her looking into her telescope while sitting on a chair. It also shows a cat sitting beside her and an animated asteroid spinning nearby. The celestial body represents asteroid 8558 Hack, which she discovered and was named in her honour.
“In 1964, Hack moved to Trieste, where she made history not just as the first Italian woman to earn a full professorship at the city’s university but also as the first female director of the Trieste Astronomical Observatory,” explains a Google blog on Margherita Hack.
“Outside of her interest in satellites, asteroids, and the evolution of stellar atmospheres, Hack championed civil rights as an outspoken advocate for progressive causes, animal protection, and equality for all,” the Google blog further describes.
Margherita Hack, known as ‘The Lady of the Stars’, was acclaimed for her ability to describe complex scientific concepts to the general public in an easy way. In her lifetime, she “published dozens of academic papers, several astronomy books, and founded two astronomical magazines.”
At 90 years young, the Italian government conferred Margherita Hack with its highest award: the title of Dama di Gran Croce. She also received a litany of accolades for her achievements.
She passed away in 2013 at the age of 91.
