Object Details
- Artist
- Mariana R. Cook, born 9 Feb 1955
- Sitter
- Vera Rubin, 23 Jul 1928 - 25 Dec 2016
- Exhibition Label
- In the 1970s, Philadelphia-born astronomer Vera Rubin (1928–2016) made groundbreaking discoveries that provided the first convincing evidence of dark matter in the universe. Rubin and her colleague Kent Ford at the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism made a compelling observation: the orbital speed of stars in distant parts of galaxies did not abide by Newton’s laws of gravity and was affected by something other than visible matter.
- In 1993, Rubin received the National Medal of Science for this and other “significant contributions to the realization that the universe is more complex and more mysterious than had been imagined.” She was also an ardent champion of women in science. An asteroid, a ridge in Mars’s Gale crater, and the U.S. national observatory on Cerro Pachón in Chile have been named in Rubin’s honor. The photographer Mariana Cook created this portrait for the 2005 publication Faces of Science.
- En la década de 1970, la astrónoma Vera Rubin (1928–2016), natural de Filadelfia, descubrió la primera prueba convincente de la existencia de materia oscura en el universo. En el Departamento de Magnetismo Terrestre del Instituto Carnegie de Ciencias, Rubin y su colega Kent Ford observaron que la velocidad orbital de las estrellas en lugares distantes de las galaxias no obedecía las leyes de gravedad de Newton y estaba afectada por algo que no era materia visible.
- En 1993 Rubin recibió la Medalla Nacional de Ciencias por este y otros “grandes aportes para comprender que el universo es más complejo y misterioso de lo que habíamos imaginado”. Rubin fue también una defensora de la mujer en las ciencias. Un asteroide, un montículo del cráter Gale en Marte y el observatorio nacional de EE.UU. en el cerro Pachón de Chile llevan su nombre. Mariana Cook tomó este retrato para la publicación Faces of Science (2005).
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; this acquisition received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum
- October 16, 2003
- Object number
- NPG.2022.167
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Mariana Cook
- Type
- Photograph
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print, selenium toned
- Dimensions
- Image/Sheet: 29.8 × 27 cm (11 3/4 × 10 5/8")
- Mat: 50.8 × 40.5 cm (20 × 15 15/16")
- Place
- United States\District of Columbia\Washington
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- Recent Acquisitions 2023
- On View
- NPG, North Gallery 140
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Costume\Jewelry\Necklace
- Exterior
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses
- Nature & Environment\Plant
- Costume\Outerwear\Coat
- Architecture\Stairs
- Vera Rubin: Female
- Vera Rubin: Science and Technology\Scientist\Astronomer
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2022.167
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm438b8d2f2-839f-4e47-96ca-f8d24a71c8d7
