stanza my stone

“Caroline Herschel (1750–1848), sister of astronomer William Herschel who discovered the planet Uranus, was an extraordinary woman who was consigned to the footnote of history by her parents. Stunted by a childhood disease, it was assumed she would never marry. So of course, her parents decided she would become a maid; a woman who wasn’t attractive and who couldn’t marry was not much use to her family in those times, unless she was a domestic servant. Although her name is mentioned alongside her brother’s more well-known discoveries, she was an astronomer in her own right, discovering several comets, and becoming the first woman to receive a wage for scientific work.” —Hila Schachar

Image: the Wizard Nebula, discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787