nantucket's heavenly legacy: maria mitchell discovers a comet
TRANSCRIPT
Nantucket's heavenly legacy:• Maria Mitchell discovers a comet
Nineteenth Century Nantucket• Cobblestone streets, brick mansions
• Whaling capital of the world
• Stately homes with rooftop lookouts
A Place in the History of Astronomy• Familiar tools of navigation
– Sextant
– Telescope
• Maria Mitchell– Born 1818
– By age 12
• Familiar with these tools
• Passionate sky-watcher
Fateful Night: Oct. 1, 1847
• Rooftop telescope
• A fuzzy blob above the North Star– The Nantucket comet
• First comet found by U.S. citizen
• First comet found by a woman
Accolades and Awards
• King of Denmark– Gold medal
• Smithsonian– $100 prize
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences– First woman elected
• Vassar College, 1865– First female astronomy professor in the U.S.
Other Notable Activities
• Solar eclipses– Lead expeditions
• Fund-raising– Vassar Observatory
• Observation– Great Comet of 1882
• Womens’ rights– Salary equal to younger male professors
Commemorating Maria Mitchell• Preserved childhood home
• Maria Mitchell Association– Encourages natural sciences
– Summer student internships
• Promising students conduct experiments– Astronomy, biology, earth science
• On Nantucket Island
Original telescope she used
• The small telescope that Mitchell used to discover the Nantucket comet is now mounted in her childhood home on Vestal Street, across from the headquarters of the Maria Mitchell Association