They moved house, close to the royal family at Windsor, and within a few years Caroline became a competent astronomer in her own right, discovering eight new comets and three new nebulae. She was officially appointed assistant royal astronomer and paid a salary. Although not the first woman to pursue astronomy, Herschel was the first to be an active and successful researcher, to hold a paid post in astronomy, and to receive honours for her work including the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in She even became a member of two scientific societies in a period when the admission of women was almost unknown.
William died in In fact only when William was away from home was Caroline able to spend much time with her own program of research. In April William and Caroline moved to a new home they called Observatory House which was in Slough and there, on 1 August , Caroline discovered her first comet which was described by some as the "first lady's comet". This discovery brought Caroline a certain degree of fame and articles were written about her. In one such article she is described as see [ 6 ] In the following year William married Mary Pitt and Caroline's life changed markedly [ 9 ] :- Initially Caroline was deeply affected by the marriage, and moved out to lodgings at Upton.
She continued to support her brother's work and in making the daily walk to Observatory House, became a well-known figure. Often, with William resting after a long night of observation, the house was kept as quiet as possible during the day.
Eventually the relationship between the two ladies - Mary and Caroline - warmed Caroline kept a diary into which she had recorded her thoughts, in particular she had recorded her great distress at the change in relationship with her brother and she also recorded her bitterness towards his wife. However, as the relationship between the two ladies improved, Caroline regretted her bitter comments against Mary and she destroyed every page of her diary over this time in her life.
In total Caroline discovered eight comets between and and she then embarked on a new project of cross-referencing and correcting the star catalogue which had been produced by Flamsteed. In Caroline submitted to the Royal Society an Index to Flamsteed 's Observations of the Fixed Stars together with a list of stars which had been omitted. This publication marked the temporary end of her own researches which she would not begin again until 25 years later after William's death.
This period of 25 years was not one which lacked interest for Caroline. She became involved with the education of John Herschel , William and Mary Herschel's son who was born in John Herschel spent long periods with his aunt during the vacations and was greatly influenced by Caroline.
She saw him educated at Cambridge, make a name for himself as a mathematician, become elected to the Royal Society , join his father in research in astronomy and be awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society for his achievements. Caroline continued to assist William with his observations but her status had greatly improved from the housekeeper she had been in her young days.
She was the guest of Maskelyne at the Royal Observatory in and a guest of members of the Royal Family at various times in , and Caroline returned to Hanover after William 's death in In many ways it was a bad decision, made too quickly, which she soon regretted but she was always one to keep a promise whatever the personal consequences so she would never return to England.
All her energies had been directed towards helping her brother in his astronomical work during his lifetime but now she turned to help his son John Herschel. Certainly this help was not given in the same way as a personal assistant, but rather now as independent researcher producing a catalogue of nebulae to assist John in his astronomical work. She completed her catalogue of nebulae and, in , the Royal Astronomical Society awarded her its gold medal for this work. Visitors began to recognize her authority.
King George III gave her a pension of fifty pounds. This was the first time that a woman was recognized for a scientific position.
Her first accomplishments were the detection of nebulae. William gave her a small telescope with which to look for comets. Trivial though it may sound, in this era, comet hunting was the main focus of many astronomers. Caroline's first experience in mathematics was her catalogue of nebulae. She calculated the positions of her brother's and her own discoveries and amassed them into a publication.
One interesting fact is that Caroline never learned her multiplication tables. She studied them so late in life that she never got a hold on them. She carried a table on a sheet of paper in her pocket when she worked.
William gained more prestige for his discovery of the planet Uranus. He used his huge twenty foot telescope for this achievement. Because of his reputation, he became an emissary of the King. William traveled to Germany to give a huge telescope to the University of Gottingen. The King commissioned the gift to the school; he was an extensive patron of William's work.
During William's visit to Germany, Caroline had her first big breakthrough--she discovered a comet [ Abstract ]. This was eventful news for Caroline as well as the scientific community.
Her brother was elated when he learned of her progress. William married and spent less time at the observatory, yet Caroline, although grieving for her lost friend and partner, carried on her work as a prominent astronomer. Before William's death, she found seven more comets.
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