Herschel, << HUR shuhl, >> Caroline Lucretia (1750-1848), was the first noted woman astronomer. She assisted her brother, the astronomer Sir William Herschel, in his observations and in 1786 independently discovered a comet. She later discovered seven more comets. She also located a number of hazy objects called nebulae, including the companion of the Andromeda nebula. In 1828, the Royal Astronomical Society presented her with a gold medal for her catalog of William Herschel’s observations of nebulae and stellar systems.
Herschel was born on March 16, 1750, in Hanover, Germany. In 1772, she joined her brother in England, where their work together began. Caroline Herschel died on Jan. 9, 1848.
