Women Astronomers Day Date in the current year: August 1, 2024

Astronomy is one of the world’s oldest natural sciences. People have studied celestial objects since ancient times; many ancient peoples, including the Babylonians, Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, and many indigenous civilizations in the Americas made systematic and methodical observations of the night sky.

Astronomy is one of the sciences where amateurs play an active role because everyone can observe celestial objects. Due to the nature of this science, women have been able to make significant contributions to astronomy even in patriarchal societies. Sadly, these contributions are often overlooked.

One of the first recorded female astronomers was Hypatia, an astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Roman Empire in the late 4th – early 3rd century BC. She made astronomical observations, taught astronomy, constructed astrolabes, and wrote commentary on notable astronomical treatises.

Among the most notable female astronomers of the early modern era were Maria Cunitz and Sofia Brahe. Brahe worked alongside her older brother, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. Although Tycho initially discouraged his sister from studying astronomy, she persisted and eventually became Tycho’s assistant. Some of Tyho’s most significant observations were made with Sofia’s assistance.

Maria Cunitz was a Silesian astronomer who is widely regarded as the most outstanding female astronomer of her time. Her magnum opus was the book of astronomical tables titled Urania popitia, published in 1650, in which she provided, among other things, a simpler and more elegant solution to Keplers’s second law of planetary motion.

The first professional female astronomer in the United States was Maria Mitchell. She is best known for discovering the comet C/1847 T1, also known as Miss Mitchell’s Comet, and for being the first woman to work as both a professional astronomer and a professor of astronomy (Mitchell taught at Vassar College from 1865 to 1888 despite having no college education).

These are just a few examples of women who made significant contributions to astronomy. There are so many more of them! Émilie du Châtelet, Mary Somerville, Caroline Herschel, Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Margaret Burbage, Nancy Grace Roman, Vera Rubin, Carolyn Shoemaker, Sara Seager, Andrea Ghez, Heidi Gammel… The list can go on and on, and it is perfectly clear that female astronomers deserve to be celebrated.

The origins of Women Astronomers Day are somewhat murky, but it has been observed since at least 2018. It is a great day to learn more about important astronomical discoveries and breakthroughs made by women. You can also celebrate the holiday by visiting a planetarium, hosting an event to inspire young girls to get interested in astronomy, and spreading the word on social media with the hashtag #WomenAstronomersDay.