Caroline Herschel’s first comet,
Caroline Hershel the sister of William Herschel the
astronomer discovered her first comet on 1st August 1786 she accompanied her observations of
the first night with three drawings of its position in viewing fields.
On the
following evening, she drew it twice and confirmed its cometary nature.
This was the first of 8 comets she would discover between
1786 and 1797. It would not be until the 20th century that another
woman astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker would beat that number of comets discovered.
She became so good at discovering comets that it was
believed that she could sniff out a comet in the sky.
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