Silent Sky

It is 1900, and Henrietta Leavitt is gazing skyward in a Wisconsin field, waiting for the stars to appear and meditating on astronomy. Her sister Margaret sneaks up on her and pinches Henrietta, scolding her for first, not wearing her hearing aid, and second, for being outside in the cold when she should be in church. Henrietta confesses that she is too anxious to sit still - the Harvard University Observatory has offered her a position in their laboratory. Margaret is shocked and unhappy about the prospect of Henrietta traveling to Massachusetts alone, believing it is a choice to be discussed as a family, while Henrietta sees this as a moment of asserting her independence and having a future as a scientist (but she needs her dowry as a financial boost to get started). Margaret is resistant, worried that her sister will start wearing pants and demanding suffrage, even though Henrietta assures her it’s all about the science.

When Henrietta arrives at the Harvard Observatory office,