Cross-post: The Lady Computers of The Royal Observatory

This post originally appeared on The Royal Society blog and is written by guest blogger Dr. Louise Devoy, Senior Curator of the Royal Observatory 

Guest blogger Louise Devoy reflects on the first generation of paid female astronomers at Greenwich, who helped to prove that women could actively contribute to professional science.

Photo: The Royal Society

As we continue to mark the 80th anniversary of the election of the first female Fellows of the Royal Society, here’s a guest post from the Royal Observatory commemorating some earlier pioneering women in STEM:

In July 2025, Professor Michele Dougherty FRS was appointed as the sixteenth Astronomer Royal, the first female post-holder since the role began in 1675. It’s an exciting milestone moment that offers us a great opportunity to reflect on the first generation of paid female astronomers at Greenwich – the ‘Lady Computers’ of the 1890s – whose ingenuity, tenacity and perseverance proved that women could actively contribute to professional science.

Women have always played an important role in the life and work of the Observatory. With the Astronomer Royal expected to live onsite, it was natural for the women in his household to take an interest in the Observatory’s activities. For example, Margaret Flamsteed, wife of the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed FRS, took on the arduous task of assembling and publishing Flamsteed’s work after his death in 1719 to ensure that his catalogue of 3,000 accurate star positions would not be forgotten.

Over the centuries, successive generations of wives, daughters and sisters supported the Astronomer Royal by receiving guests, providing illustrations for books, and even accompanying their husbands on eclipse expeditions. As demonstrated by surviving letters in the RGO Archives and the Royal Society Archives, we can see how they were embedded within a network of astronomers’ wives who took a keen interest in the scientific debates of the day. 

Read the rest of Dr. Devoy's post at The Royal Society blog. 

The First Woman Astronomer Royal

by Kimberly Mitchell

On July 30, 2025, Michele Dougherty became the first woman Astronomer Royal in the United Kingdom. It is only the latest achievement in Dougherty’s long astronomical career, and one she never envisioned as a child.

Dougherty grew up in South Africa and became interested in astronomy and the stars through her father. He built a telescope when she was ten and showed Dougherty Jupiter’s moons and Saturn. Though Dougherty enjoyed the experience, she didn’t pursue science in secondary school. Still, her enjoyment of science and math stuck with her, strong support for the idea that building science capital in children by the age of 11 is impactful for their involvement in science and math later in life. 

When Dougherty arrived at the University of Natal, she decided to study mathematics and science despite not having a strong secondary school background in these subjects. Dougherty says of this experience, “It was like learning a new language,” but that didn’t stop her from ultimately succeeding. She got her Bachelor’s degree in mathematics before moving to physics for her graduate degree. She graduated in 1988, with her PhD work focused on wave-particle interactions in dispersive and anisotropic media. 

Michele Dougherty addressing the Royal Astronomical Society in 2015.

Photo: TowardsTheLight - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Dougherty completed a fellowship in mathematics in Germany before moving to London, where she joined Imperial College in 1991. Dougherty is a professor of space physics, and she was head of the Department of Physics at Imperial from 2018 until 2024. Dougherty has been the principal investigator for major planetary space missions, notably the magnetometer instrument on NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn, and the European Space Agency's JUICE mission, which will explore Jupiter’s icy moons starting in 2031. She led the work that discovered an atmosphere containing water and hydrocarbons around Saturn’s moon Enceladus, a critical finding in the search for extraterrestrial life.

The position of Astronomer Royal dates back to 1675 and is officially appointed by the British monarch. King Charles II appointed the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed. Flamsteed’s main role was observing and cataloging stars to create navigational maps. Flamsteed and several of his successors are credited with establishing a tradition of extensive research and precise astronomical observations.

The position has changed somewhat, in that the Astronomer Royal now holds the title along with their current roles. Michele Dougherty is currently the Executive Chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the President-elect of the Institute of Physics, as well as a professor at Imperial College. As the Astronomer Royal, she will serve as an ambassador for astronomy, space, and STEM in the UK and beyond, and an advisor to King Charles III in any matters of astronomy. 

John Flamsteed, first Astronomer Royal.

Painting by Thomas Gibson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Dougherty is aware of the importance of becoming the first woman Astronomer Royal, as she understands how younger women and girls can draw on her achievements to inspire their own. “I think when young children in particular see someone that looks like them doing a job they think they would never get an opportunity to do, it changes their mindset a little," she told BBC News,

Dougherty joins another female astronomer, Catherine Heymans, who is the first female Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Heymans took on the role in 2021, and now both positions are held by women for the first time in history. 

In her recent BBC interview, Dougherty said: 

“For the last 350 years, the title of Astronomer Royal has been held by a white male astronomer, and that kind of reflected what the astronomical community has looked like for the last few centuries. But things are changing," she said.

"Science is becoming more diverse, which it needs to be if we want to answer these big questions, and I'm absolutely delighted now that the two Astronomers Royal across the UK are female, reflecting the fact that science is for everyone."

Crosspost: Meet the first woman appointed as astronomer royal for Scotland

Written By Jenny Darmody for Silicon Republic

Dr. Catherine Heymans, professor of astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh, is the first woman to be appointed to the role of astronomer royal in the history of the United Kingdom. Image credit: BBVA Foundation.

As the first woman in the role, Catherine Heymans wants to bring astronomy and science to the masses.

Earlier this year, astrophysicist Catherine Heymans became the first woman to be appointed astronomer royal for Scotland since the position was created almost 200 years ago.

She is the 11th person to hold the role after it became vacant in 2019 following the death of John Campbell Brown, who held the position since 1995.

However, while the title lasts a lifetime, Heymans doesn’t plan on holding onto it for all that time.

“I think this title gives me immense opportunity to go out there and tell people about astronomy and what we do, but at some point, I’ll run out of energy.”

She said while there can sometimes be an elitist idea of holding onto prestigious titles, she’s more focused on using it to do the work she wants to do and then letting the title go to the next person.

“There are so many big questions I want to answer [and] I’ve got a big project that I want to do to get telescopes installed in all our outdoor centers. Once I’ve got that done, then I will pass this very sparkly tiara onto someone else.”

Originally, the position was linked to the royal observatories in the UK. Up until 1995, the astronomer royal for Scotland was the title of the director of the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh. Since then, it has become an honorary title which, in Heymans words, means she gets to decide what exactly the role is.

“It’s a really great opportunity to be able to share with everyone just how much astronomy we’re doing in Scotland, both professional astronomy and amateur astronomy,” she said.

“My local amateur astronomy group, their membership has grown by 30pc during lockdown.”

Discover more about Dr. Heymans' career in physics and her vision for making astronomy more inclusive at: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/astronomer-royal-scotland-catherine-heymans