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Caroline Herschel, German-born British astronomer who was a pioneer in the field. She made important contributions to the work of her brother Sir William Herschel, and, on her own, she became the first woman to discover a comet (1786).
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Caroline Lucretia Herschel [1] (/ ˈ h ɜːr ʃ əl, ˈ h ɛər ʃ əl / HUR-shəl, HAIR-shəl, [2] German: [kaʁoˈliːnə ˈhɛʁʃl̩]; 16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848) was a German astronomer, [3] whose most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel–Rigollet ...
- Beginnings
- Escape to A New Life
- A Passion For Astronomy
- Uranus
- Miserable Astronomy Full Time
- Things Are Looking Up
- Survey of The Northern Skies
- Recognition
- One Last Great Effort
- Family and The End
Caroline Lucretia Herschel was born in the German town of Hanover on March 16, 1750, the eighth child of Isaac Herschel and Anna Ilse Moritzen. Isaac was a musician while Anna was illiterate and vehemently opposed to the education of girls, believing they should work only at home. Anna objected to Isaac’s attempts to educate his daughters – even op...
Caroline’s brother William moved to the English city of Bath, where he taught music, performed in concerts, and was a church organist. William wanted his young sister Caroline to have a better life than she could as their mother’s servant. He proposed to his family that Caroline should come and live with him in Bath, train to be a singer, and give ...
However, William’s passion for music was decreasing and his passion for astronomy was increasing. He felt driven to understand the heavens better than anyone before; he desperately wanted to see objects so faint that nobody had seen them before. To achieve his goals, he needed the greatest telescopes in the world. The only way to get them was to bu...
In March 1781, William discovered Uranus. Since prehistoric times, our ancestors had known Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Herschel’s discovery of a new planet was a singular moment in the history of science: if a planet had remained unrecognized for so long, what else might be out there? After all, Uranus was actually visible to the nake...
Caroline was far from happy. She had escaped drudgery in Hanover to become a singer, praised and loved by audiences. She now had to abandon her singing. In August 1782, age 32, she moved with William from Bath to Datchet, near Windsor Castle, closer to the king. Her first months as a full-time astronomer were miserable and lonely. She described her...
By the end of the following year, Caroline had discovered four comets and she felt much happier. To be the first human to see these remarkable objects inspired her. During her career, Caroline discovered or co-discovered eight comets and 14 nebulae, including, in 1783, the Andromeda nebula’s companion Messier 110, also known as NGC 205. In 1788, Ca...
In October 1783, William finished building a superb instrument, an 18-inch (460 mm) reflecting telescope with 20-foot (6.1 m) focal length. He and Caroline became one of the most formidable teams astronomy has ever known. Night after night, William would systematically observe different regions of the sky, calling out sightings, declinations, and r...
In 1787, at age 37, Caroline began receiving a pension from King George for her work – she became the world’s first professional woman astronomer. Finding their work badly hampered by errors in the British Catalogue of Stars, Caroline spent almost two years compiling a list of errors, which she published in 1798, earning her the thanks of all the c...
At age 75, and in retirement, Caroline learned that William’s son John Herschelintended making an updated catalog of nebulae. To make life easier for her nephew, she undertook a huge reconstruction of the existing catalog so that known nebulae were listed by position rather than class. Her work won her the British Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold ...
Caroline was devoted to her brother William, who had rescued her from drudgery and poverty. In 1788, William married Mary Pitt, a local widow, which seems to have made Caroline deeply unhappy. As time passed, however, relations between the two women improved. Caroline doted on John Herschel, the sole child from the marriage. William died in 1822. H...
Sep 4, 2012 · The first woman to discover a comet, the first woman officially recognized in a scientific position, and the first woman to receive honorary membership into Britain's prestigious Royal Society ...
Mar 16, 2012 · Learn about the life and achievements of Caroline Herschel, the sister and assistant of William Herschel, who discovered eight comets and improved the accuracy of astronomical observations. Find out how she overcame the challenges of her gender, class and family to pursue her passion for astronomy.
Caroline Herschel. Born: Mar 16, 1750 in Hanover, Germany. Died: Jan 9, 1848 (at age 97) in Hanover, Germany. Nationality: German. Famous For: discovery of comets.
Mar 16, 2016 · Ms Herschel discovered eight comets, rediscovered another and assembled a catalogue of 560 previously unrecorded stars. She was also the first woman to be paid for her contribution to science.
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