Wendy Freedman
Born in Toronto, Canada, Her father especially had a strong interest in astronomy, and introduced young Wendy to the sky.
When Freedman’s team received time on the Hubble Telescope, they began their search for a precise Hubble Constant by looking in a galaxy named M100. There they hoped to find Cepheid variable stars to use as their study objects. After looking at four thousand stars over the course of sixty nights, they succeeded in identifying twenty Cepheids that would meet their needs.
Freedman’s success in calculating a Hubble Constant would not have been possible without the power of the Hubble Telescope. Now she leads her team in designing and building another giant telescope, this one to stay on the ground. Named the Giant Magellan Telescope, it will contain seven 27.8-foot mirrors, and produce a resolving power at least ten times that of the Hubble.
One hope for the Giant Magellan is that it will be the first telescope powerful enough to be able to see an Earth-like planet beyond our solar system.
