Caroline Herschel - The first paid female astronomer in the UK

In 1787, thanks to discovering many new celestial bodies and assisting her brother, Caroline Herschel was paid by King George III and became a professional female astronomer.

Caroline Herschel was the first professional female astronomer in Britain and made important contributions to the field of astronomy today. However, many astronomers probably don't even recognize her name. Most scientists are interested in the latest techniques, data, and theories in their field, but may not know the details of the field's history, and astronomers are no exception.

Astronomer Caroline Herschel. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons).

Caroline Herschel was born in 1750 in Germany and had a difficult childhood. A bout of typhus left her scarred at an early age. Her family assumed she would never marry and considered her an unpaid maid. Caroline was forced to complete housework even though from a young age she loved to study. Finally, she fled her family to Bath, England, with her brother William Herschel.

At first, Caroline was a reluctant astronomer. She was not interested in astronomy until William became fascinated with the field. Although she complained about pursuing her brother's various interests, including music and astronomy, Caroline eventually admitted that she truly loved studying celestial bodies.

At that time, astronomers were mainly interested in finding new celestial objects and mapping the sky accurately. The use of telescopes to search for new comets and nebulae is also popular. William Herschel became famous when he discovered Uranus in 1781, although he initially mistook the planet for a comet.

At the beginning of her career, Caroline worked as William's assistant. She mainly focuses on equipment-related work, such as polishing telescope mirrors. Caroline also helped copy catalogs and carefully recorded William's observations. But then, she began to have her own observations.

Caroline Herschel worked with her brother William on many scientific projects. (Photo: A. Diethe/Wikimedia Commons).

In 1782, Caroline began recording the locations of new objects in her private diary. On August 1, 1782, she discovered a new comet, meaning she became the first person to observe it through a telescope. This was the first comet discovery made by a woman. She continued to discover 7 more comets over the next 11 years.

During this period, physical observation of a new object guaranteed public recognition. As a result, Caroline was only credited with comets that she saw through her telescope. For all her other work, such as recording and organizing all the data from William's observations, she received less credit than her brother. For example, when Caroline compiled all of William's observations into a catalogue, the work was published under William's name. Caroline is only mentioned as "assistant".

However, in recognition of her discoveries and her work as William's assistant, King George III paid Caroline a salary in 1787, making her a professional female astronomer. She was the first woman in England to earn an income from pursuing astronomy.

Later, Caroline rearranged the catalog in a more efficient way. This update was later used as the basis for the New General Catalog that astronomers still use today. The Herschel brothers also created the first map of the Milky Way - the galaxy containing Earth - although it was not completely accurate.