16 March

Caroline Herschel was the German-born British astronomer, sister of Sir William Herschel, who assisted in his astronomical research by making calculations associated with his studies.

In her own telescope observations, she found three nebulae (1783) and eight comets (1786-97). In 1787, King George III gave Caroline a salary of 50 pounds per year as assistant to William. She published the Index to Flamsteed's Observations of the Fixed Stars and a list of his mistakes in 1797.

At the age of 10 she had been ill with typhus, which subsequently stunted her growth. She never grew taller than 1.3 metres and remained frail throughout her life. She died on 9 January 1848.