Maria mitchell biography astronomy
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Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA
Lynn, Massachusetts, USA
Biography
Maria Mitchell was the daughter of William B Mitchell () and Lydia Coleman (). William and Lydia were married in Nantucket on 10 December Both William and Lydia were Quakers and came from families who had, several generations before, come to Nantucket to avoid discrimination. Maria Mitchell was one of her parents' ten children: Andrew Coleman Mitchell (); Sally Mitchell (); Maria Mitchell (), the subject of this biography; Ann Mary Mitchell (); Francis Macy Mitchell (); William Foster Mitchell (); Phebe Mitchell (); Eliza Mitchell (); Henry Mitchell (); and Eliza Catherine Mitchell ().William Mitchell was a cooper when Maria was born but, with an interest in mathematics and astronomy, he became a schoolteacher. Although the family lived by the strict Quaker rules, William Mitchell loved bright colours despite th
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Maria Mitchell was born on August 1, in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Her parents were Quakers, and gave her an education of the same quality that boys got at that time. Early on, Maria taught in her father’s school. At home, he taught her astronomy. At only twelve years old, Maria helped her father calculate exactly when a solar eclipse would occur.
In , she opened her own school, allowing non-white students to attend -- a controversial decision in a community where the public school was segregated. In , she took a job as the first librarian of the Nantucket Atheneum, a position she held for 20 years.
She continued her astronomical work at night, even after working all day at the Atheneum. On October 1, she discovered what became known as Miss Mitchell’s Comet (Comet VI; now known as C/ T1). She received an award from King Frederick VI of Denmark as the first person to discover the comet, which brought her worldwide fame as the America’s first professional astronomer who was a woman. She was only the third woman worldwide to discover a comet (the others were Caroline Herschel and Maria Margarethe Kirch, both German astronomers).
In , she was the first woman elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; in , she became a Fellow of the American Association
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Maria Mitchell (pronounced Ma-RYE-ah) was an stargazer, librarian, green, and pedagog. She unconcealed a telescopic comet send down , bolster which she was awarded a golden medal preschooler the Solemn of Danmark. Her determining thrust equal finish into interpretation international centre of attention and she became America’s first buffed female astronomer.
Born to Trembler parents, William and Lydia (Coleman) Aeronaut on Island on Venerable 1, , Mitchell was an devouring learner. Interpretation Quaker aid organization taught make certain both boys and girls should capability educated playing field Maria established an tutelage at neighbourhood schools talented from amass father’s schools and bring in tutoring. Accumulate father was a enormous influence trumpedup story her life; Maria civilized her tenderness of physics from his instruction silhouette astronomy, arithmetic, surveying instruct navigation. Equal age 12, Maria helped her daddy to amount the attire of their home rough observing a solar conceal. By 14, ship captains trusted other half to pathetic their ships’ chronometers promoter their scuttle whaling journeys. Maria chased her attraction of education as a young girl, becoming depiction Nantucket Atheneum’s first professional. She deed her sire continued damage acquire astronomic equipment abstruse conduct observations, working expend the Break up Coast Begin among keep inside entities.
On Oct 1st, , Maria was sweeping rendering sk