Caroline Herschel

Caroline Hershel on the background of the galaxy

The First Professional Woman Astronomer

Keep scrolling down to read about Caroline's greatest achievements!

  • 1783

    Open Cluster Discovery

    Caroline discovered an open cluster nowadays known as NGC 2360. She went onto discover 14 new nebulae, including NGC 205, the companion to the Andromeda Galaxy!

  • 1786

    Comet Discovery

    Caroline was the first woman to discover a comet. The comet is now known as 35P/Herschel-Rigollet and will next be visible to humans on Earth in 2092.

  • 1787

    Salary

    Caroline became the first female scientist in England to be paid in professional capacity. She was employed by King George III who paid her £50 per year.

  • 1788

    A Massive Star Catalog

    Caroline published an Index to Flamsteed's Observations of the Fixed Stars which contained updates to John Flamsteed's work, first Astronomer Royal, by adding 560 stars to the catalog.

  • 1822

    Awards

    Caroline received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society and received an honorary membership into the Royal Society.

If you haven't got enough yet, keep scrolling even further to read fun facts about Caroline!

  • As a child, Caroline contracted typhus which stunted her growth at four feet three inches. As a result, her family deemed her unmarriageable, denied her education, and raised her to believe that she wouldn't achieve nothing more than being a scullery maid. How wrong they were...

  • At first, Caroline did not have an interest in astronomy. At the age of 22, she moved from Germany to Bath, England to live with her brother, William Herschel (who btw you should check out as well!!), and trained as a singer. She sang as a soprano in a number of performances.

  • It was thanks to William that Caroline learned English and Maths. At the time, he was an amateur astronomer, and his lessons allowed her to work as his assistant e.g. taking notes, polishing mirrors of his telescopes and executing calculations. Of course, it also allowed her to develop her own fascination with astronomy!

  • Caroline went on to discover many more comets which now bear her name. For example, the asteroid 281 Lucretia is named after her second given name, and there is also a crater on the Moon named after her called C. Herschel!

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