Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso's 95th Birthday

Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Chile-based guest artist Pablo Luebert, celebrates the 95th birthday of a luminary ambassador of the southern night sky: Chilean astrophysicist, author, and professor Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso. Light-years ahead of her time, she was the first Chilean to earn a doctorate in astrophysics, a pioneer not only in her field, but also for women scientists around the world.

Born in the Chilean capital of Santiago on this day in 1925, Carmen Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso was determined from a young age to become a science researcher and teacher. Her scientific career formally took off in 1949, when she joined the faculty at the University of Chile, home of the historic National Astronomical Observatory. In her early years, Adelina crunched data from distant stars, including that collected by her colleague Hugo Moreno León; the two eventually married and formed a fruitful partnership that resulted in a wealth of scientific publications. 

But for Adelina, the sky wasn’t the limit. To further her exploration into the mysteries of the cosmos, she moved to the United States in the late 1950s. She graduated from the University of Indiana in 1964 with her unprecedented doctorate in astrophysics, and upon her return home, she helped to establish and lead the country’s first Bachelor of Astronomy program at her alma mater, the University of Chile. 

In honor of her stellar scientific contributions, Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso became the first woman and astronomer inducted into the Chilean Academy of Sciences in 1967.

Guest Artist Q&A with Pablo Luebert

Today’s Doodle was illustrated by Chile-based guest artist Pablo Luebert. Below, he shares his thoughts behind the making of this Doodle:

Q: Why was this topic meaningful to you personally?

A: When I was looking at her old photos, she always seemed so happy, so into what she was doing, as if she had found her thing. I really connected with that, with the feeling of belonging and purpose.

Q: What were your first thoughts when you were approached about the project?

A: I was so thrilled! When I was a kid in school, my classroom window looked at the National Observatory in Cerro Calan, and I remember being so mesmerized with it. Looking back, I feel like I bonded with her in the past without even knowing her, with a weird space-time-science-fiction kind of connection.

Q: Did you draw inspiration from anything in particular for this Doodle?

A: I really leaned into her work and pictures for inspiration. I loved the idea of her going to work and stopping for a quick look at stars, as if she couldn’t help but look up.

Q: What message do you hope people take away from your Doodle?

A: To look up. We frequently go looking down on life, on people. I hope we allow ourselves to look up and dream more often.

Early concepts and sketches of the Doodle