March 12: Dorrit Hoffleit (b. 1907)

I am sorry to say I am slowing down, and have only five publications this year.

--Dorrit Hoffleit, at age 98

She's got cataracts now, and she uses a "walking stick." She retired from Yale thirty-five years ago. Most weekdays, she goes in to her department office, checks her email, and works on journal articles, because the research is her life-long love.

Happy birthday to the oldest living woman astronomer in the US, Dorrit Hoffleit, turning 100 today.

[Image: Black-and-white photo of Dorrit Hoffleit, smiling, in a light-colored cardigan and a dark top]