Caroline Lucretia Herschel (1750-1848),German- born British astronomer,in 1847,pointing at the orbit of a comet on a map of the solar system. The map shows all the planets out to Saturn. Uranus had been discovered in 1781 by William Herschel,but was at first thought to be a comet. Neptune was discovered in 1846. The map also shows the asteroids Ceres (discovered in 1801),Pallas (1802),Juno (1804) and Vesta (1807). Caroline was the sister of William Herschel,and worked with him in England. She discovered eight new comets between 1786 and 1797. After her brother's death in 1822,Caroline returned to Hanover,where she died at the age of 98. This artwork shows Herschel in Hanover in 1847,the year before she died |