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Caroline Lucretia Herschel [1] (/ ˈ h ɜːr ʃ əl, ˈ h ɛər ʃ əl / HUR-shəl, HAIR-shəl, [2] German: [kaʁoˈliːnə ˈhɛʁʃl̩]; 16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848) was a German astronomer, [3] whose most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel–Rigollet, which bears her name. [4]
The most successful visual comet discoverer of all time was Jean-Louis Pons, who claimed to have discovered thirty-seven; the second most prolific was William Robert Brooks. The first woman known to have discovered comets was Caroline Herschel. The first telescopic discovery of a comet was made by Gottfried Kirch in 1680.
281 Lucretia is an asteroid belonging to the Flora family in the Main Belt. [4] It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on 31 October 1888 in Vienna, and is named after the middle name of Caroline Herschel, one of the first female astronomers. [6]
The comet was particularly known at the time for exhibiting two tails, one pointing away from the Sun and the other (termed an "anomalous tail" by Karl Harding and Heinrich Olbers) [3] pointing towards it. Caroline Herschel recorded an observation of the comet on January 31, 1824 as the last entry in her observing book. [4]
Having published extensively on the Herschel family, Winterburn began to write The Quiet Revolution of Caroline Herschel in 2012. [12] [13] The Quiet Revolution of Caroline Herschel focuses on the ten most productive years of Caroline Herschel's academic career, working with her brother William Herschel's telescope and finding comets. [14]
35P/Herschel–Rigollet is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 155 years and an orbital inclination of 64 degrees. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with (20 years < period < 200 years). [1] It was discovered by Caroline Herschel (Slough, United Kingdom) on 21 December 1788.
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It was discovered by Charles Messier then added to his catalogue of comet-like objects in 1781. [a] [6] Caroline Herschel, the younger sister of William Herschel, independently discovered it in 1783, thinking it had not yet been catalogued by Messier. [7] Walter Scott Houston (died 1993) described its appearance: [8]