Catherine Octavia Stevens Last updated August 18, 2025 British astronomer (1865–1959)
Catherine Octavia Stevens (1865-1959) was an amateur astronomer who was Director of the British Astronomical Association Meteor Section from 1905 to 1911. [ 1] Her primary interest was the Sun and she made drawings of sunspots using a 3 inch refractor . [ 1]
She joined the six month old British Astronomical Association on 27 May 1891. [ 2] On the 1911 census she gave her occupation as Astronomer, working for the British Astronomical Association and her address was The Plain, Foxcombe Road, Oxford ., [ 3] a house with an observatory at the top of Boars Hill , Oxford. [ 1] She lived there from 1910 to 1956. [ 1] In 1939 she gave her occupation as Meteorologist Astronomer. [ 4]
Family She was born at the Rectory, [ 3] Bradfield, Berkshire on 23 January 1865, [ 4] the daughter of Thomas Stevens (1809-1888), Rector of Bradfield and founder of Bradfield College and Susanna Stevens née Marriott (c1824-1866), [ 5] daughter of Rev Robert Marriott, Rector of Cotesbach , Leicestershire. [ 6] Catherine Stevens died on 16 June 1959. [ 1]
Her older sister, Mary Ann Stevens, married John Oldrid Scott , son of the architect George Gilbert Scott . [ 7]
Publications Stevens, Catherine (July 1891). "Growth and Decay of Sunspots in 1891" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 6 (9): 442– 444. Bibcode :1896JBAA....6..442S . Stevens, Catherine (July 1896). "A Curious Rainbow" (PDF) . Nature . 54 (1395): 271. Bibcode :1896Natur..54Q.271S . doi :10.1038/054271c0 . S2CID 4050412 . Stevens, Catherine (June 1904). "Mock Suns" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 14 (8): 318– 319. Bibcode :1904JBAA...14..318S . Stevens, Catherine (June 1905). "Note on Halos and Rainbows" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 15 (3): 137– 138. Bibcode :1905JBAA...15..137S . Stevens, Catherine (October 1905). "The Problem of "Shadow Bands" (PDF) . Nature . 72 (1878): 631. Bibcode :1905Natur..72..631S . doi :10.1038/072631b0 . S2CID 4054036 . Stevens, Catherine (November 1907). "The Sun as a twinkling star" . The Observatory . 30 (389): 407– 408. Bibcode :1907Obs....30..407S . Stevens, Catherine (June 1908). "Reports of the Observing Sections: Section for the Observation of Meteors" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 18 (9): 358– 360. Bibcode :1908JBAA...18..358S . Stevens, Catherine (January 1910). "The Physical Relation of Comets and Meteors" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 20 (4): 197– 199. Bibcode :1910JBAA...20..194. Stevens, Catherine (December 1922). "Stellar Scintillation" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 33 (3): 108– 109. Stevens, Catherine (March 1924). "Wind Waves and Shadow Bands" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 34 (5): 193– 194. Bibcode :1924JBAA...34..193. Stevens, Catherine (May 1927). "Shadow Bands" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 37 (7): 277– 278. Bibcode :1927JBAA...37..273. Stevens, Catherine (November 1932). "The Total Eclipse of the Sun of 1932 August 31" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 43 (1): 24– 25. Bibcode :1932JBAA...43...24. Obituary "Obituary" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 70 (2): 103– 104. January 1960. References 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Obituary, JBAA" . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 70 : 103. 1960. Bibcode :1960JBAA...70..103. Retrieved 12 October 2021 . ↑ Larsen, Kristine, "Shooting Stars: The Women Directors of the Meteor Section of the British Astronomical Association" , Antiquarian Astronomer , 2006, Issue 3, pp 76-77 1 2 1911 Census of England and Wales 1 2 1939 England and Wales Register ↑ Deaths, Reading Mercury , 14 July 1866. ↑ Marriages, Leicestershire Mercury , 25 March 1843 ↑ Reading Mercury , 2 May 1868This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
