by Karin Gaffney

Imagine being the very first person in the world to see something no one else has.

Maria Mitchell did just that in 1847, standing on the roof of her family’s Nantucket home, searching the heavens through a telescope.

Twenty-nine-year-old Maria (ma-RY-ah), who at 12 had become an expert at recording solar eclipses, gazed through her telescope one clear, cold October night and saw a star five degrees above the North Star where no star had been before.

Her father, an astronomer, agreed with her finding, and they soon got confirmation from experts: Maria had identified a faraway comet and became the first woman ­ the first person, actually ­ ever to do that using a telescope.

For her accomplishment, Maria was recognized by the king of Denmark. The comet was named after her and she received a gold medal that was inscribed "Not in vain do we watch the setting and rising of the stars."

Maria’s drive to learn and achieve was present her entire life. She became a teacher and a librarian, and taught herself German. She became an astronomer at a time when girls typically weren’t encouraged to get an education. Her parents felt it was important for their daughters to learn a profession and be independent, and to "question everything" as Maria was fond of saying.

After discovering her comet, Maria became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Then Vassar Female College in New York built an observatory with the third-largest telescope in the U.S., and made Maria a professor. It was Vassar’s first astronomy position and one Maria held for more than twenty years.

She was a dedicated teacher who spent a lot of time with students, even after school hours. They would stand on the roof of the observatory at night in the coldest of weather, making careful observations and recording their findings. Maria wanted her students to learn every aspect of the craft so they could make discoveries and teach future generations of women about astronomy. She often asked students "Did you learn that from a book or did you observe it yourself?"

In 1878, she escorted a group of women across the country to see a total solar eclipse from the best location for the event. There were no cars or airplanes, of course, so Maria, her sister and four Vassar graduates traveled two thousand miles by train to Colorado. That long journey allowed them to witness a total solar eclipse, one that lasted just two minutes and forty seconds.

Maria retired from Vassar in 1888 at the age of 70 and died the following year. She truly loved astronomy, the science of it and the possibilities of things yet to be discovered.

"We especially need imagination in science," she said. "It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but is somewhat beauty and poetry."

For more information on Maria, check out the following books:

"Sweeper in the Sky" by Helen Wright (1949, 1997 College Avenue Press)

"Maria Mitchell: Girl Astronomer" by Grace Hathaway Melin (1960 Bobbs-Merrill Co.)

"Maria’s Comet" by Deborah Hopkinson (1999 Athenaeum Books for Young Readers)

"Rooftop Astronomer" by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson (1990 Carolrhoda Books)

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