Caroline Herschel

Caroline Lucretia Herschel (16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848) was a German astronomer best known for discovering several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel–Rigollet, which still carries her name. The younger sister of astronomer William Herschel, she collaborated with him for most of her career. She holds a string of firsts: the first recognized professional female astronomer, the first woman to earn a salary as a scientist, and the first woman in England to hold a government position. She was also the first woman to have scientific findings published in the *Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society*, the first to receive a Gold Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society (1828), and the first—alongside Mary Somerville—to be named an honorary member of that society (1835). In 1838, she became an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy. On her 96th birthday in 1846, the King of Prussia awarded her a gold medal for Science.

Born in Hanover, Germany, on 16 March 1750, Caroline was the eighth child and fourth daughter of Isaac Herschel, a self-taught oboist and bandmaster in the Hanoverian Foot Guards, and his wife Anna Ilse Moritzen. The family originally came from Pirna in Saxony. Isaac’s health suffered after the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, leaving him with chronic pain, asthma, and a weak constitution. Caroline’s only surviving sister, Sophia Elizabeth, was sixteen years older and married when Caroline was five, leaving Caroline to handle much of the household work. The children received only a basic education in reading and writing. Though her father tried to teach her at home, his efforts focused more on her brothers.

At age ten, Caroline caught a severe case of typhus that stunted her growth—she never reached more than 4 feet 3 inches (1.30 m)—and cost her the sight in her right eye. Her family assumed she would never marry, and her mother believed she should train as a house servant rather than be educated. Still, her father sometimes taught her in secret when her mother was away, or included her in her brothers’ violin lessons. She briefly learned dressmaking and picked up needlework from a neighbor, but long hours of chores limited her progress. To keep her from becoming a governess and gaining independence, she was forbidden to learn French or advanced needlework.

After Isaac’s death, Caroline’s brothers William and Alexander arranged for her to join them in Bath, England, for a trial as a singer in William’s church performances. She left Hanover on 15 August 1772 after her brothers convinced their reluctant mother. On the journey, she got her first taste of astronomy, learning about constellations and visiting opticians’ shops. In Bath, she managed William’s household and began singing lessons. William had established himself as an organist, music teacher, and choirmaster at the Octagon Chapel. Caroline struggled to fit into local society but finally indulged her love of learning, taking lessons in singing, English, arithmetic, and dance, and learning to play the harpsichord. She became a key performer in William’s musical events, eventually the principal singer at his oratorio concerts. After a performance of Handel’s *Messiah* in April 1778, where she was the first soloist, she was offered a spot at the Birmingham festival but declined to sing for anyone but William. Soon after, her singing career faded as William turned his attention to astronomy.

As William shifted from music to astronomy, Caroline supported his work, though she later wrote bitterly in her memoir that she did nothing more than a well-trained puppy dog would—following his commands. Still, she grew to enjoy the work. In the 1770s, dissatisfied with available telescope lenses, William began grinding his own. Caroline fed him and read to him while he worked, despite her own ambitions as a singer. Her collaboration with him made her a significant astronomer in her own right. In March 1781, after the Herschels’ millinery business failed, they moved to a new house. On the night of 13 March, Caroline was guarding leftover stock when William discovered the planet Uranus (though he initially thought it was a comet). That discovery proved the power of his new telescope and marked a turning point in both their careers.