Two moon phrase drawings by German astronomer and artist, Maria Clara Eimmart (1676-1707)

 Women's History Month: A month celebrating women of history! I will be posting media and book recommendations, highlighting women from (mostly) the 18th century, and otherwise sharing content with an emphasis on women in history.

A pastel drawing of a moon phase by Maria Clara Eimmart. Circa 1693-1698.

 

 

Maria Clara Eimmart (1676-1707) was an astronomer and engraver born in Germany. Maria was the daughter--and eventually, assistant--to George Christoph Einmmart, an amateur astronomer whose own father was an engraver and painter. Maria's father trained her as an apprentice to his astronomy studies and ensured she had an education which reflected her broad interests. Maria Clara Eimmart learned mathematics, astronomy, French and Latin in addition to drawing and engraving.

In 1706, she married a fellow pupil of her father, Johann Henrich Muller. Muller, who taught physics, was inspired by his wife and father-in-law's passion for astronomy and would become an amateur astronomer himself in time.

Unfortunately, Maria Clara Eimmart died during childbirth just one year after her marriage. She left behind an array of illustrations, including her notable drawings of moon phases and other astronomical bodies. Her highly detailed astronomical works were typically done using pastels on dark blue cardboard material. By the year 1700, she had amassed a total of over 350 drawings of the phrase of the moon, although only a handful survive today.  

A pastel drawing of a moon phase by Maria Clara Eimmart. Circa 1693-1698.

Women's History Month: Meet Messier 110, A Galaxy Independently Discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783

Women's History Month: A month celebrating women of history! I will be posting media and book recommendations, highlighting women from (mostly) the 18th century, and otherwise sharing content with an emphasis on women in history. 

[image: A portrait of Caroline Herschel in 1828, aged 78]

On August 27th 1783, astronomer Caroline Herschel made an independent discovery of (to quote her brother William) a "very considerable, broad, pretty faint, small nebula" that would later become known as Messier 110 or M110. Today, M110 is classified as a dwarf elliptical galaxy that is recognizable for the dark, atypical dust clouds near the center of the galaxy. Thanks to the work of later astronomers, we also know today that most of the stars within M110 are about 500 million years old, though there are some young stars aged around 10-20 million years old towards the center of the galaxy.

Herschel was not actually the first astronomer to see M110; the first known observation was witnessed by Charles Messier, who observed it in August, 1773 but did not record it as an independent object. He would add it to his personal notes only in 1801, and eventually the object was assigned a Messier number (hence the name!) in the 1960s.

Herschel, however, was the first astronomer to make an independent documented discovery of M110, which added to her growing catalog of nebulae and other astronomical objects she discovered and cataloged during her decades-long work.

SDSS Image of M110 [credit: Donald Pelletier /CC BY-SA 4.0, no changes]