From exploring outer space to flying aircrafts, leading scientific research to breaking political barriers, women today can be seen in almost every field. It wasn’t, however, always this way. There was a time, not long ago, when women had it even more difficult than women today to shine in their chosen field. And it was only when a few women started showing that they could also excel in their chosen streams, were they able to encourage others like them.
Maria Mitchell was one of them. Born in 1818 on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts, Mitchell was lucky from birth. For her father, a banker and school teacher, encouraged education of all his children, including girls, which wasn’t the norm in those times.
Mitchell’s father took to astronomy and she started doing astronomical observations with him as she grew up. They had a small telescope in their house, which they used almost every time the night was clear.
Mitchell grew up as a quiet girl, and enjoyed studying, especially astronomy. She became a librarian of the Nantucket Atheneum in 1836, and spent her days reading anything and everything she could lay her hands on.
Prize for discovering comets
Discovering comets were still a considerable achievement in those days, even though a fair few had already been found. In fact, the discovery of every new comet included a prize, announced by King Frederick VI of Denmark.
Mitchell continued her astronomical observations on clear nights and it was on one such occasion that she discovered the comet that now bears her name. On October 1, 1847, Mitchell observed a small blurry streak in the sky through her telescope, even though it was invisible to the naked eye.
Mitchell guessed that what she had observed had to be a comet and informed her father, who wanted to announce her discovery immediately. Mitchell, however, took a more cautious approach and decided to record her observation and continue taking more readings. She noted down the object’s initial position in which she had found it and made more observations to confirm that it was indeed a comet.
Delay could have cost her
On October 3, Mitchell’s father announced the discovery by shooting a letter to Cambridge with the details. Mitchell’s delay in announcing the discovery could have well cost her as the discovery was initially credited to Francesco de Vico, an Italian astronomer and priest who had observed the same comet on October 3.
Several others also followed suit as the same comet was observed by many in the following days. Mitchell’s priority, however, was recognised and the discovery was attributed to her once it was clear that she was indeed the first one to have observed the said comet. Now nicknamed Miss Mitchell’s Comet, the comet with a formal designation of C/1847 T1 won Mitchell the medal from the King of Denmark.
In the years that followed, Mitchell became the first female astronomy professor in the United States and was also appointed as the director of the Vassar College Observatory. And even after her death in 1889, her name lives on in the fields she loved. Apart from the comet, an asteroid and a lunar crater were named after her. In 2007, the Maria Mitchell Association was set up to continue her commitment towards education.
