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Henrietta Leavitt's Work
- Henrietta Leavitt meticulously tracked Cepheid variable stars, leading to a crucial discovery.
- Her work involved analyzing photographic plates and noting the stars' varying brightness.
The Cosmic Yardstick
- Leavitt discovered a relationship between a Cepheid variable star's pulsation rate and its brightness.
- Slower pulsations indicated brighter stars, providing a cosmic yardstick for distance measurement.
Expanding the Universe
- Edwin Hubble used Leavitt's yardstick to determine Andromeda's distance, proving it was another galaxy.
- This discovery expanded our understanding of the universe beyond the Milky Way.