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, the first evidence for the galaxy rotation problem, one key piece of evidence for dark matter. Measurements by other astronomers using 21 centimeter hydrogen line radio telescopes clinched the case.

Honored during her lifetime for her work, she received the Bruce Medal, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, and the National Medal of Science, among others. Her legacy is described by The New York Times as "ushering in a Copernican-scale change" in cosmological theory.

Rubin spent her life advocating for women in science, and mentored aspiring female astronomers.

Early life and education

Vera Cooper was born on July 23, 1928, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the younger of two sisters born to a Jewish family with roots in Eastern Europe. Her father, Pesach Kobchefski, immigrated with his mother and three siblings to Gloversville, New York, reuniting with his father who had immigrated a year or two earlier. Pesach soon anglicized his name to Pete Cooper, and as an adult studied electrical engineering and worked at Bell Telephone. He married Rose Applebaum, a second generation American born to a mother who had immigrated from Bessarabia (in present-day Moldova and Ukraine) to Philadelphia. They met at Bell, where Rose worked until they married.

In 1938 the family moved to Washington, D.C., "Even then I was more interested in the question than in the answer," she remembered. "I decided at an early age that we inhabit a very curious world." She built a crude telescope out of cardboard with her father, and began to observe and track meteors. She earned her bachelor's degree in astronomy in 1948.

Cornell was not known during this period for the excellence of its astronomy department, composed as it was of only four members. It did, however, boast an excellent physics faculty, and much of the coursework for Rubin's degree was taught within this department. Noted physicist Philip Morrison and future Nobelists Hans Bethe and Richard Feynman worked with Rubin during this period.

At Cornell, she worked with astronomer Martha Carpenter on galactic dynamics and studied the motions of galaxies. From this work, Rubin made one of the first observations of deviations from Hubble flow. Though her conclusions – that there was an orbital motion of galaxies around a particular pole – were later disproven, the idea that galaxies were moving held true and sparked further research. These circumstances did not go unnoticed. Her presentation to the AAS in December 1950 received front page headlines ("Young Mother Has Own Theory of Universe", read the lede, disseminated from an article in the Washington Post). The talk received – to Rubin's personal recollection – universally negative feedback and the paper was not published. although much of her classwork was completed with Georgetownian Francis Heyden. Her dissertation, completed in 1954, concluded that galaxies clumped together, rather than being randomly distributed through the universe, a controversial idea not pursued by others for two decades. There she met her long-time collaborator, instrument-maker Kent Ford.

An initiating faculty member of the Vatican Observatory Summer School (1986), Rubin continued this relationship through subsequent decades, providing dedication remarks for the opening of the VATT, the Vatican's telescope on Mount Graham. thumb|Rubin in the 1970s using [[Kitt Peak National Observatory|Kitt Peak National Observatory's 36-inch telescope with Kent Ford's image tube spectrograph attached|alt=Photo of Rubin adjusting part of a large telescope]]

Research

At the Carnegie Institution, Rubin began work related to her controversial thesis regarding galaxy clusters in tandem with Kent Ford, This image intensifier allowed resolving the spectra of astronomical objects that were previously too dim for spectral analysis. The idea of peculiar motion on this scale in the universe was a highly controversial proposition. It was dismissed by leading astronomers but ultimately shown to be valid. The effect is now known as large scale streaming. She further uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted angular motion of galaxies based on the visible light and the observed motion. Her research showed that spiral galaxies rotate quickly enough that they should fly apart, if the gravity of their constituent stars was all that was holding them together; because they stay intact, a large amount of unseen mass must be holding them together, a conundrum that became known as the galaxy rotation problem. Rubin's results were confirmed over subsequent decades, This data was confirmed by radio astronomers, the discovery of the cosmic microwave background, and images of gravitational lensing. alternative models to dark matter also inspired by her measurements.

Counter-rotation

Another area of interest for Rubin was the phenomenon of counter-rotation in galaxies. Her discovery that some gas and stars moved in the opposite direction to the rotation of the rest of the galaxy challenged the prevailing theory that all of the material in a galaxy moved in the same direction, and provided the first evidence for galaxy mergers and the process by which galaxies initially formed.

Throughout her graduate studies, Rubin encountered discouraging sexism; in one incident she was not allowed to meet with her advisor in his office, because women were not allowed in that area of Georgetown, a Catholic university.

Personal life

thumb|Vera Rubin

Rubin married in 1948, when her husband, Robert Joshua Rubin, was a graduate student at Cornell University, and she herself had recently graduated from Vassar. Rubin ascribed this characterization to the "unique part time full time" nature of her then position at Georgetown University. Rubin's children recalled later in life that their mother made a life of science appear desirable and fun, which inspired them to become scientists themselves.

Rubin's older sister, Ruth Cooper Burg, was an attorney who later worked as an administrative law judge in the United States Department of Defense. In 2008, Robert Joshua Rubin, Vera Rubin's husband, with whom she had been married for about 60 years, died.

Rubin died of natural causes at age 88 on the night of December 25, 2016. She had dementia and was living in an assisted living facility. Rubin was memorialized by her colleagues at the Carnegie Institution, where she performed the bulk of her work and research, as a national treasure. In the decade following her death, there has been significant ongoing disagreement as to why Rubin's work was not recognized with a Nobel Prize. Some assume it was "because of her gender," while physicists such as Lisa Randall and Emily Levesque have argued that it was an oversight. Others have argued that it was a "glaring omission". Popularly written articles like Forbes<nowiki/>' "Who Really Discovered Dark Matter: Fritz Zwicky Or Vera Rubin?" both characterize Rubin's failure to be awarded a Nobel Prize as an egregious snub

270x270px|thumb|The [[Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the Milky Way]]

Vera C. Rubin Observatory

thumb|Telescope Mount Assembly of the 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope at [[Vera C. Rubin Observatory, under construction atop Cerro Pachón in Chile|270x270px]]

On December 20, 2019, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope was renamed the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in recognition of Rubin's contributions to the study of dark matter and her outspoken advocacy for the equal treatment and representation of women in science. The observatory is located on a mountain in Cerro Pachón, Chile and observations will focus on the study of dark matter and dark energy. As of April 2025, the telescope had begun operation and was producing images and volumes of new data.

Additional recognition

  • In 2002, Discover magazine recognized Rubin as one of the 50 most important women in science.
  • On November 6, 2020, a satellite named after her (ÑuSat 18 or "Vera", COSPAR 2020-079K) was launched into space.
  • An area on Mars, Vera Rubin Ridge, is named after her, as well as the asteroid 5726 Rubin.
  • Rubin is honored on a 2025 U.S. quarter as part of the final year of the American Women quarters program.
  • In 2024, Nvidia announced that their next generation of data center accelerators would be named after her, with the CPU named Vera and GPU named Rubin.
  • The Carnegie Institution has created a postdoctoral research fund in Rubin's honor.
  • The Division on Dynamical Astronomy of the American Astronomical Society has named the Vera Rubin Early Career Prize in her honor. It seeks to recognize excellence in dynamical astronomy.

Media

  • The Verubin Nebula, which appears in season three of Star Trek: Discovery, is named after Rubin.
  • Rubin was featured in an animated segment of the 13th and final episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

Awards and honors

thumb|Rubin is honored on a 2025 edition of the [[American Women quarters series]]

Following her 1981 election as the second woman ever to the National Academy of Sciences, Rubin and her work received numerous accolades.

Rubin's perspective on the history of the work on galaxy movements was presented in a review, "One Hundred Years of Rotating Galaxies," for the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 2000. This was an adaptation of the lecture she gave in 1996 upon receiving the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, the second woman to be so honored, 168 years after Caroline Herschel received the Medal in 1828.

  • National Space Grant Distinguished Service Award (2010)
  • Richtmyer Memorial Award (2008)
  • James Craig Watson Medal of the National Academy of Sciences (2004)
  • Gruber International Cosmology Prize (2002)
  • Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1996)
  • Member, Pontifical Academy of Sciences (appointed 1996)
  • Member, American Philosophical Society (elected 1995)
  • Henry Norris Russell Lectureship, American Astronomical Society (1994)
  • Dickson Prize for Science (1994)
  • Jansky Lectureship before the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (1994)
  • National Medal of Science (1993)
  • Member, National Academy of Sciences (elected 1981)

In addition to this list, Rubin was granted honorary doctorates from Harvard University,

Quotations

"Don't let anyone keep you down for silly reasons such as who you are. And don't worry about prizes and fame. The real prize is finding something new out there."

References

  • Oral history interview transcript with Vera Rubin on 21 September 1995, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics
  • Oral history interview transcript with Vera Rubin on 9 May 1996, Session II, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics
  • Oral history interview transcript with Vera Rubin on 3 April 1989, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics
  • Oral history interview transcript with Vera Rubin on 20 July 2007, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics