Burbidge, (Eleanor) Margaret (1919– )

English astrophysicist who, with her husband Geoffrey Burbidge, discovered processes by which elements are formed in the nuclei of stars. Together they published Quasi-Stellar Objects (1967), based on her research. Later, they suggested that quasars and galaxies are linked in some way.

Peachey was born in Davenport and studied at University College, London, and at the University of London Observatory, where she worked 1948–51 before going to the USA. She was alternately at Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago, and at the California Institute of Technology, then moved to the University of California in 1962, becoming professor in 1964, as well as director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory 1972–73.

In addition to the work done jointly with her husband, Margaret Burbidge measured the red shifts of several objects suspected of being quasars, and in the process she found that some quasars do not give off any radio radiation.