Caroline's mother did not see the need for a girl to be educated and preferred that she do the housework for the rest of the family. As her brother's housekeeper, she acquired an education and became an astronomer
Caroline Lucertia Herschel was born on March 16, 1750 in Hanover, Germany. Her father Isaac was a talented musician. Isaac Herschel encouraged all six of his children to receive training in mathematics, French and music. Caroline's mother did not see the need for a girl to be educated and preferred that she do the housework for the rest of the family.
At the age of ten, Caroline almost died of typhus. The disease caused her to stop growing and make her a dwarf permanently. Her parents concluded that she would never marry because of this disability, but that she would be able to live out her life as an old bachelor. Caroline stayed at her parents' house until she was 22. Then her brother William took her to live with him in Bath, England. Caroline became her brother's housekeeper.
William Herschel and some of his family members who joined him in addition to Caroline, arrived in England while serving in the Hanoverian Guard Regiment, in which William and his brother Jacob served. At that time the Kingdom of Hanover and the Kingdom of England were united under the reign of George II. Herschel learned English quickly and at the age of 19 changed his name to Frederick William Herschel.
William was a talented musician and conductor. He gave voice lessons to Caroline and coached her in math. Caroline became a well-known soprano and began to sing professionally. William's hobby was astronomy and he devoted most of his free time to building more and more powerful telescopes with which it would be possible to look deep into space.
William's reputation as a telescope builder grew to such an extent that he quit his job as a musician and devoted all his time to building telescopes for astronomy. Caroline began helping her brother in making telescopes and participating in his passion for astronomy. Caroline first served as her brother's apprentice then began to act more and more on her own. He helped his sister develop the modern mathematical approach to astronomy.
William, the most famous representative of the family was the one who discovered the planet Uranus-Uron, the first planet discovered since antiquity. By the way, he initially recognized it as a comet.
Late in his career, Herschel discovered two moons of Saturn - Mims and Enceladus, and one of the moons of Uranus. He also worked on creating a comprehensive catalog of nebulae. At the same time he dealt with the subject of double stars and was the first to discover that they are not only observed together but may form one star system.
In 1800 he discovered infrared radiation. He discovered it by passing sunlight through a prism and holding a thermometer near the red end of the visible spectrum. The thermometer showed an increase in temperature, and this led him to the conclusion that there must be invisible radiation causing it.
From studying the simulated motion of the stars, he was the first to realize that star systems move through space and the first to find the direction of motion. He also discovered the structure of the Milky Way and concluded that it is disc-shaped.
It was Herschel who coined the term "asteroid" (from the Greek words - astro = star + id = shape). In 1802 (shortly after Heinrich William Matheus Alberos discovered the second asteroid, 2 Pallas on March 28 of that year) Herschel described the gaseous planets as the center of a small solar system. He concluded that all the gaseous planets have rings.
Caroline received from William as a gift in addition to the enthusiasm and joy of discovery also advanced telescopes and with them she discovered three new nebulae and nebula clouds where stars are formed. In the years 17856-7 she discovered eight comets. Caroline cataloged her and William's every discovery. Two of the astronomical catalogs written by Caroline Herschel are still in use today.
On her 96th birthday, she received the Prussian Gold Medal for the scientific achievements of her life. Two years later she died.
Sources
An article on the NASA website
The William Herschel Wikipedia entry
More of the topic in Hayadan:
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I read late. How unfair the world is and how worthy of recognition.
Against all the odds
I did not understand the magnitude of her discoveries?
She received elaborate telescopes from her brother and recorded objects she found in the sky. Did she have any new theories? Interesting conclusions? During the time she lived, masses of people found new celestial bodies, therefore, at least according to the scriptures, it does not seem that her contribution to science was significant.
Interesting article - thanks
It's interesting to learn, it's just a shame that half of the entry about Caroline tells about her brother...
It is not fair to leave the talented Carolyn without comment and it was nice of my father to bring an article thanks to her work and astronomical research. I was also happy to see that she received an award for her scientific achievements from her country.