Cannon studied physics and astronomy at Wellesley College for women and became the valadictorian with a degree in physics in 1884. The next decade she spent perfecting her photography skills.
She became almost deaf from scarlet fever. In 1894, her mother died and life become more difficult. She was hired by her professor, Sarah Frances Whiting, as a junior physic teacher at Wellesley. She took graduate courses in physics and astronomy and learned spectroscopy. Annie continuded her studies at Radcliffe College and had use of a better telescope. Nearby Harvard professors gave lectures to the Radcliffe women and she was allowed to use the Harvard College Observatory. In 1907, Canon finished her studies and received her masters from Wellesley.
In 1896, Cannon became a member of a group of women that assisted Edward C. Pickering in completing the Henry Draper Catalogue with the goal of mapping and classifying stars. Cannon classified over 350,000 stars in her lifetime. She was faster than any one else and could classify 200 stars an hour using the system she created.
Cannon and the other women working on the star classification were, at first, criticized for not being housewives. They were only paid 25 cents an hour, worked seven hours a day and six days a week.
The classifying system Annie created was adopted formally May 9, 1922. In 1938, she became the William C. Bond Astronomer at Harvard University
Cannon died April 13, 1941 at the age of 77. The American Astronomical Society created the Annie Jump Cannon Award that is presented annually to female astronomers for distinguished work in astronomy.
Her list of awards is too long to list here.