Maria Margarethe Kirch
| Maria Margarethe Kirch | |
|---|---|
| Born | Maria Margarethe Winkelmann 25 February 1670 Panitzsch near Leipzig, Electorate of Saxony |
| Died | 29 December 1720 (aged 50) Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia |
| Residence | Prussia |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | Mathematics and Astronomy |
| Notable awards | Gold medal of Royal Academy of Sciences, Berlin (1709) |
Maria Margarethe Kirch (née Winckelmann; 25 February 1670 – 29 December 1720) was a German astronomer, and one of the first famous astronomers of her period due to her writings on the conjunction of the sun with Saturn, Venus, and Jupiter in 1709 and 1712 respectively.
Maria was educated from an early age by her father, a Lutheran minister, who believed that she deserved an education equivalent to that given to young boys of the time. After her father's death, her education was continued by her uncle. As Maria, had an interest in astronomy from an early age, she took the opportunity of studying with Christoph Arnold, a self-taught astronomer who worked as a farmer in Sommerfeld, near Leipzig. She became Arnold's unofficial apprentice and later his assistant, living with him and his family.
Through Arnold, Maria met astronomer and mathematician Gottfried Kirch, one of the most famous German astronomers of the time. Despite Kirch being 30 years her senior, they married in 1692, later having four children, all of whom followed in their parents' footsteps by studying astronomy.
Gottfried Kirch gave Maria further instruction in astronomy, as he had his sister and many other students. While at the time women were not allowed to attend universities, much work was conducted outside universities and Gottfried himself had never attended a university.
Maria and Gottfried worked together as a team, though Maria was mainly seen as Gottfried's assistant rather than equal. Together they made observations and performed calculations to produce calendars and ephemerides. From 1697, the couple also began recording weather information.
The data collected by the Kirches was used to produce calendars and almanacs and was also very useful in navigation. The Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin handled sales of their calendars, which included information on the phases of the moon, the setting of the sun, eclipses, and the position of the sun and other planets.
On 21 April 1702, while making her regular nighttime observations, Maria discovered a previously unknown comet, the so-called "Comet of 1702" (C/1702 H1), becoming the first woman to make such a discovery (actually two observers in Rome had found this comet about two hours before her).
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