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August 01 Maria MitchellAstronomy is a heavy male dominated field. Interestingly, over 50% of my students are female, but only 10% of my colleagues. The percentage is slightly higher than that in graduate school, but still few women go into the field. Almost all of my students are majoring in something else and are taking astronomy only to fulfil a science credit. Despite being a heavily male dominated field, women astronomers have made significant contributions. One of the first woman astronomers in America was Maria Mitchell. She was born August 1, 1818, in Nantucket. She was a distant cousin of Benjamin Franklin. She was always interested in astronomy, and her father would take up onto the roof of the house to look at the stars and constellations. Using her father's telescope, she discovered a comet in 1847. This comet immediately became known in the Americas as Miss Mitchell's Comet. She shared a gold medal prize from the king of Denmark for discovering the comet. She shared the prize because it had already been awarded to European astronomer Francesco de Vico, who had discovered the comet on his own two days later. Though he found the comet later, the king heard of de Vico's discovery first, as the news did not have to cross the ocean. The following year, Maria Mitchell was admitted as the first woman in any discipline to the American Academy of Sciences. Interestingly, the second woman, nearly a half century later, was also an astronomer. She was the first American woman to receive an advanced degree. When Vassar College was formed, she was the first faculty member selected for the college. She taught women science at a time in American history when most felt that science was too hard for women. In fact, her father had to pull numerous strings to get her to be allowed to study astronomy at Harvard, particularly since Harvard did not admit women at the time. Her degree was actually at Hanover college, though she took the classes at Harvard. She studied variable stars, and was instrumental in bringing an observatory to Vassar. The Maria Mitchell Observatory was built in 1908 and named in her honor. This observatory focusses its studies on variable stars. Michell Crater, located on the Moon, is named in her honor, as was the USS Mitchell, a World War II Liberty ship. The Mitchell house is maintained as a museum by the Maria Mitchell Association, and is open to the public. -Astroprof Comments (2)
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