Ida E. Woods (September 16, 1870 – October 4, 1940) was an American astronomer at Harvard College Observatory. Early life Ida Elizabeth Woods was born in Natick, Massachusetts, the daughter of Oliver Powers Woods and Martha Wright Woods. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1893. Career As a "computer" at Harvard College Observatory, beginning immediately after college in 1893, Woods worked with Harlow Shapley and Annie Jump Cannon. She studied photographic plates to discover dozens of variable stars during her career. She attended the meeting of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) in 1916, when it was held at Harvard. Publications by Woods included "Light Curve and Orbit of a New Eclipsing Binary H. V. 3622" (1922), "Fifty New Variable Stars in the Southern Milky Way" (1926), "The Southern Station of the Harvard Observatory" (1927), and "Forty New Variable Stars in Sagitarrius" (1928). She held the Sarah F. Whitin Fellowship from Wellesley in 1912, to fund her research at Harvard. She was a member of the Sagamore Sociological Conference. Personal life Woods died in 1940, at her home in Natick. She was 70 years old. References External links 1870 births 1940 deaths American women astronomers Wellesley College alumni People from Natick, Massachusetts 19th-century American astronomers 19th-century American women scientists 20th-century American astronomers 20th-century American women scientists Scientists from Massachusetts