if i had a nickel for every astronomer i knew about whose name was some derivation of caroline and who was known for discovering comets, i would have two nickels. which is not a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, right? today’s scientist is an astronomer named caroline herschel. herschel earned a lot of firsts—she was the first woman to ever be paid for scientific work, the first woman to be awarded a gold medal of the royal astronomical society, and, along with mary somerville (i promise her post is coming!), the first woman to be named an honorary member of the royal astronomical society.
like our other carolyn, herschel wasn’t born a scientist. she was stricken with illness when she was young, stunting her growth and giving her vision loss in her left eye. her mother decided that she was unsuitable for both marriage and education, and that she ought to become a house servant. for most of her years she was tasked with long hours of household chores as discouragement from learning. when her father died, herschel joined her brother william in england as a singer at his church. here she was finally able to learn—she studied singing, english, and arithmetic with her brother. she acquired a brief period of fame for her singing ability, but refused to sing under any conductor but william, causing her reputation to die quickly.
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william’s interests soon shifted from music to astronomy, and herschel gave up her interest in singing to support him in his work. william’s main project was building better telescopes, as he was unsatisfied with the ones he could buy. herschel spent long hours polishing mirrors, recording observations, and copying astronomical catalogues. she hated the work at first, but grew to love studying the stars. in 1783, she independently discovered a nebula and the galaxy messier 110 in the same night. that summer, william created a comet-searching telescope for herschel. with that telescope, herschel found 8 comets. her efforts were rewarded with a salary from the king, making her the first woman to earn a salary for scientific research and the first woman in england to hold an official government position.
in her later life, herschel continued her astronomical studies, producing her own original catalogue of nebulae. the royal astronomical society presented her with a gold medal for her work. she spent much of her last years lamenting the physical limitations that kept her from making more original discoveries, but even as her body failed her, she never stopped her quest for discovery.
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"The eyes of her who is glorified here below turned to the starry heavens.”
-Herschel's Tombstone
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(written 3/16/21)
