Caroline Herschel

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Caroline Herschel

Born 16 March 1750(1750-03-16)
Hanover, Germany
Died 9 January 1848 (aged 97)
Nationality Flag of Germany German 1750-?
Flag of England English ?-1848
Fields astronomer
Notable awards Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1828)
Prussian Gold Medal for Science (1846)
Caroline Herschel shortly before her death in 1848 at the age of 97
Caroline Herschel shortly before her death in 1848 at the age of 97
"C. Herschel" redirects here. For the lunar crater, see C. Herschel (crater).

Caroline Lucretia Herschel (1750-03-16, Hanover – 1848-01-09) was a German-born English astronomer, the sister of astronomer Sir William Herschel with whom she worked throughout both of their careers. Her most significant contribution to astronomy was the discovery of several comets and in particular the periodic comet 35P/Herschel-Rigollet, which bears her name.

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[edit] Early life and career

Caroline was born in Hanover to Isaac Herschel and Anna Ilse Moritzen of Hanover. Isaac led a musical family, and William, twelve years Caroline's senior, became an army oboist in his teens. After seeing combat and deciding on a new career, William decided to leave for England, moving there in 1766 at the age of nineteen. Upon Isaac's death in 1767 Caroline was left working in the family kitchen, and when an invitation to join William arrived she moved to join him in 1772.

By this point William had established himself as an organist and music teacher at 19 New King Street, Bath, Somerset (now the Herschel Museum of Astronomy). She took several singing lessons a day from William, who had become the choirmaster of the Octagon Chapel. William was busy with his musical career and became fairly busy organizing public concerts. She was also the principal singer at his oratorio concerts, and acquired such a reputation as a vocalist that she was offered an engagement for the Birmingham festival which she declined. But it appears that Caroline did not blend in with the local society and made few friends.[1]

[edit] Astronomical work

Williams' interest in astronomy started as a hobby to pass time at night. He took to retiring to bed as soon as he arrived home, taking "a bason of milk" and an astronomy book for company. At breakfast the next day he would give an impromptu lecture on what he had learned the night before. Caroline became as interested as William, stating that she was "much hindered in my practice by my help being continually wanted in the execution of the various astronomical contrivances."[1] William became known for his work on high performance telescopes, and Caroline found herself supporting his efforts.

William's telescopes gained the attention of many in the field. When comparing observations with the Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne, William's telescope proved far superior. In March 1781 he made his first observation of what would eventually prove to be the planet Uranus. In 1782, William accepted the office of King's Astronomer to George III and moved to Datchet and subsequently to Observatory House near Slough, Berkshire. The new job proved to be a mixed blessing; although it left him with ample free time to continues his astronomical observations, it also meant a reduction in income and being called upon by the king for entertainment at any time. During this time William perfected his telescope making, building a series of ever larger devices that ultimately ended with his famous 40 foot focal length instrument. Caroline was his constant assistant in his observations, also performing the laborious calculations with which they were connected. During one such observation run on the large telescope in 1783, Caroline became hooked on an iron hook and when she was helped off "...they could not lift me without leaving nearly 2 ouches of my flesh behind."[1]

In 1778 William married a rich widow. Although his new wife made every effort to stay on friendly terms with Caroline it seems her life was considerably upset.[1] Through this period she continued her observations on her own, and made many of her discoveries. She later reconciled with the couple, and took great delight in her new nephew, John Herschel.[1]

During her leisure hours she occupied herself with sweeping the heavens with a 27-inch focal length Newtonian telescope and by this means detected a number of astronomical objects during the years 1783 - 87, including most notably an independent discovery of M110 (NGC 205), the second companion of the Andromeda Galaxy. During 1786 - 97 she also discovered eight comets, her first comet being discovered on August 1, 1786. She had unquestioned priority on five of the comets[2] and had rediscovered Comet Encke in 1795.[3] The following year she was granted an annual salary of £50 by George III for her work as William's assistant.[4]

In 1797 William's observations had shown that there were a great many discrepancies in the star catalogue published by John Flamsteed, which was difficult to use due to its having been published as two volumes, the catalogue proper and a volume of original observations. William realised that he needed a proper cross-index in order to properly explore these differences but was reluctant to devote time to it at the expense of his more interesting astronomical activities. He therefore recommended to Caroline that she undertake the task. The resulting Catalogue of Stars was published by the Royal Society in 1798 and contained an index of every observation of every star made by Flamsteed, a list of errata, and a list of more than 560 stars that had not been included.[5]

Caroline returned to Hanover in 1822 following her brother's death, but did not abandon her astronomical studies, continuing to verify and confirm William's findings and producing a catalogue of nebulae to assist John in his work. In 1828 the Royal Astronomical Society presented her with their Gold Medal for this work - no woman would be awarded it again until Vera Rubin in 1996.

In 1835, along with Mary Somerville, she was elected to honorary membership of the Royal Society; they were the first honorary women members. In 1838 she was also elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy. In 1846 at the age of 96, she was awarded the Gold Medal for Science by the King of Prussia.[6]

Caroline Herschel died at Hanover on 1848-01-09 in full possession of her mental faculties.

[edit] Honours

  • In 1889 the asteroid 281 Lucretia (discovered 1888) was named after Caroline's second given name.
  • In 1935 C. Herschel crater in the Sinus Iridium on the Moon was named in her honour.
  • The Far Infrared and Sub-millimetre Telescope (FIRST), due to be launched in July 2008, was renamed the Herschel Space Observatory in honour of William and Caroline Herschel.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e The Inimitable Caroiline, J. Donald Fernie, American Scientist, November-December 2007, pp. 486-488
  2. ^ Obituary of Miss Caroline Lucretia Herschel. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 8, p. 64 (1847).
  3. ^ Obituary of John Francis Encke. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 26, p.131 (1865).
  4. ^ Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey (1986). Women in Science: Antiquity through the Nineteenth Century. MIT Press, pp. 97-98. ISBN 026265038X. 
  5. ^ Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey (1986). Women in Science: Antiquity through the Nineteenth Century. MIT Press, pp. 97-98. ISBN 026265038X. 
  6. ^ Herschel, John (1879). Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel. John Murray. 

[edit] References

  • This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
  • Brock, Claire (2007). The Comet Sweeper: Caroline Herschel's Astronomical Ambition. Icon Books Ltd.. ISBN 1840467207. 
  • "Carolyn Lucretia Herschel" by Michael Haskin. in New Dictionary of Scientifc Biography Scribners, 2008. vol. 3, pp. 286-7.

[edit] External links