Caroline Herschel is the first profession woman astronomer in history.
Born in 1750, Herschel is noted for spotting a comet and was acknowledged and celebrated as England’s best comet hunter and astronomical data compiler.
Herschel lived in Hanover, England. Her father was a violinist, who worked as a military musician. Having suffered smallpox in 1754, Herschel’s disfigurement meant she could not realistically be married off, and so her mother turned her into the household scullery maid. Her mother also prevented Herschel’s father from teaching her any skills, lest that mean she left and took up a real career.
Herschel’s brother William however bought his sister out of servitude from their mother and trained her as a vocal soloist as well as arthimatic and showed her stargazing.
They were tasked at finding new things. William discovered a new planet in 1781, which was later renamed Uranus.They tried to map the nebulae of the Northern sky.
In her free time, Herschel would look at the sky rom the roof of her cottage, becoming known for her comet hunting skills. She found eight in a decade, including ne that will not reappear until 2092.
Herschel’s work, the Catalogue of Stars of 1798, was very precise, so much so that no corrections since have been needed.