Molly Lindsey, Writer 

Sloan Grant(s) Received: 2022, UCLA, Screenwriting Award

Project Type: Pilot

Genre: Drama

Length: 54 pages 

Field of Science: Astronomy

Stage: Development 

Synopsis: 

Through hour-long episodes, Novas chronicles the odyssey of Annie Jump Cannon. The pilot story, “Aperture,” teases Annie’s eventual success, controversy, and deafness before transporting the viewer back to 1880s Dover, Delaware. Here, we meet young Annie, who finds solace stargazing alongside her first teacher and most profound source of inspiration — her mother. Annie excels at the Quaker Academy she attends but is not challenged enough. While Annie’s mother nurtures her curiosities in the male-dominated fields of math and science, her father urges her to prioritize a domestic, humble lifestyle, warning her that should she leave, she will not be welcome back into his home. Despite this, with her mother’s support, Annie decides to attend college and pursue her studies in mathematics and physics.

At Wellesley Women’s College, Annie meets other ambitious young women but does not feel at home. Her roommate and fellow cohort member, Henrietta, is highly competitive and far from warm. Due to a lack of opportunities and resources for women in higher education, Annie feels lost and disappointed. Her mother mails her men’s clothing, which Annie uses to disguise herself. She follows her professor, Sarah Whiting, to an exclusive lecture at MIT, the only undergraduate physics lab in the country. Sarah catches Annie, and Annie persuades Sarah to fight for Wellesley to have a practical observatory of their own. As Annie and Sarah grow closer and work toward this shared goal, fellow students and faculty find their quality time suspicious and perhaps perverted.

The pilot’s final conflict occurs as Annie and Sarah present their observatory proposal to the Wellesley board. Jealous and desperate for leverage of some kind, Henrietta opens Annie’s personal mail, which reveals devastating news regarding the health of Annie’s mother. Henrietta hides the letter, keeping Annie in the dark. Wellesley’s president, skeptical of Annie and Sarah’s relationship, warns Annie not to accept an apprenticeship under Sarah.

The season progresses chronologically. Episode two, “Eclipse,” begins with the debut of Wellesley’s observatory — the country’s first women’s observatory (and the second undergraduate observatory). Annie and Sarah slowly develop a deep friendship, and per President Howard’s request, Henrietta is hired as an apprentice to Sarah alongside Annie. Still highly competitive with Annie, Henrietta unkindly reveals Mary’s illness to her. Henrietta knows Annie will return home, and she will take her place on an upcoming trip to Harvard for a workshop led by Harvard Observatory Director Edward Pickering.

Despite her father’s warning, Annie returns to Dover and must face the decline of her lifeline — her mother. In their final conversation, Mary gifts Annie her Blair box camera and urges her to return to Wellesley and finish her degree. It is unclear what Annie will decide to do.

Episode three, “Umbra,” follows Annie’s return to Wellesley to honor her mother’s request. Sarah and Annie work closely, conducting X-rays, studying spectroscopy, and examining glass plates with projected photographs of stars. Annie picks up photography as a hobby, celebrating her mother’s passion for the art form and finding similarities between the lens of telescopes and cameras. In playing with light and continuing to study the stars, Annie grows curious about stellar brightness.

Annie contracts Scarlet Fever and loses her hearing entirely. Her deafness and the loss of her mother make Annie feel isolated. She recovers but never regains her hearing. Despite this, she graduates as valedictorian and is invited to pursue her Master’s at Wellesley and continue researching alongside Sarah. She’s also commissioned by a camera company to travel to Spain and take photographs of the solar eclipse.

Episode four, “Orbit,” portrays Annie’s time in Spain. While on assignment, Annie also captures photos of Spain, later featured at Chicago’s World’s Exposition. Annie faces discrimination due to her gender and disability. She misses Sarah and begins to question if her feelings for her are romantic. Annie also catches wind of Henrietta’s variable stars research and feels envious.

Meanwhile, upon the death of astronomer Henry Draper, his widow donates money to Pickering and the Harvard Observatory to continue cataloging star spectra. Desperate for a computing team, Pickering hires Henrietta and Sarah, among other women, for fifty cents a day. While male astronomers work telescopes, the women, or “computers,” analyze and sort the data. They become known as “Pickering’s Harem” and struggle to be taken seriously. Annie sees published research and suspects it’s Sarah’s. She writes to her.

In episode five, “Resonance,” Sarah replies to Annie’s letter. She enrolls Annie in Wellesley’s Master’s program and hires her to teach introductory physics and astronomy. Annie joins the Harvard Computers, who are debating how best to classify the stars. Annie finds her deafness allows her to focus intensely — she can categorize three stars per minute. She develops a new classification system based on surface temperature: O, B, A, F, G, K, and M. She and Sarah create the mnemonic, “Oh Be a Fine Girl, Kiss Me.” They share their first kiss.

“Magnitude” is the sixth and final chapter. After Pickering’s death and the publication of the Draper Catalog, Annie, Henrietta, Sarah, and the other women finally receive credit. Their scarcity complex fades; Annie and Henrietta grow more collaborative. The women join the National Women’s Party and become more public about their activism.

Annie is nominated for the National Academy of Sciences but not elected due to her deafness. Finally, she is offered the role of Director of Photographs at Harvard. Instead, Annie and Sarah travel to Peru to capture the Southern Sky — on Annie’s terms.