Adelina Gutiérrez

Carmen Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso (aka Adelina Gutiérrez, 27 May 1925 – 11 April 2015) was a Chilean scientist, academic and professor of astrophysics.

Biography Carmen Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso, was born on 27 May 1925, in Santiago, Chile. She was the daughter of Ramón Gutiérrez and Carmen Alonso. Gutiérrez studied at the Liceo Maria Auxiliadora de Santiago, from which she graduated in 1942. Later, she began pursuing a career as a physics and mathematics teacher by studying at the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Chile, from which she graduated as a state-approved teacher in 1948. While Gutiérrez was studying at the university, she met the scientist Hugo Moreno León, whom she married in 1951 and with whom she had three children.

Gutiérrez began working as a science teacher at the Liceo Dario Salas and the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (FCFM) of the University of Chile. From 1 June 1949, Gutiérrez worked at National Astronomical Observatory of Chile. At that observatory, her work was initially restricted to analyzing astronomical data obtained by other scientists. While working there, Gutiérrez developed an interest in the photoelectric photometry of austral stars, a subject which she addressed in numerous publications. During the time that she was working at the National Astronomical Observatory, Gutiérrez also became a full faculty member in Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile.

In the late 1950s, Gutiérrez traveled to the United States to study for a PhD in astrophysics, which she obtained in June 1964, becoming the first Chilean to obtain such a degree. In 1965, after having returned to Chile, Gutiérrez, Hugo Moreno León and Claudio Anguita founded a bachelor's degree course in astronomy at the University of Chile. Gutiérrez was responsible for overseeing the course. In 1976, Gutiérrez also founded a master's degree course in astronomy at the University of Chile. That same year she was named a full member of the Chilean Academy of Sciences Institute. She was the first woman and the first astronomer to join that select group of scientists.

Tribute On 27 May 2020, Google celebrated her 95th birthday with a Google Doodle.

Works English title Original title Years Ref. Astronomical Measurements Made with Theodolite Determinaciones astronómicas realizadas con teodolito 1953 The Accuracy of Extinction Determinations 1966 Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (FCFM), University of Chile A System of Photometric Standards 1966 Santiago de Chile The Atmospheric Extinction at Cerro Tololo 1967 Department of Astronomy, FCFM, University of Chile Spectrophotometric Parameters of Early-Type Stars 1968 FCFM, University of Chile A Photometric Investigation of the Scorpio-Centaurus Association 1968 University of Chicago Press Watching the Stars: Development of the Techniques of Astrophysics Observando los astros: desarrollo de las técnicas de astrofísica 1978 The Sun El sol 1978 General Astrophysics Astrofísica general 1980 with Hugo Moreno Low Dispersion Spectrophotometry of Late-Type Stars 1982 Santiago de Chile: Observatorio Astronomico Nacional