Pioneering Women in Observatories

© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Description

As new technologies and instruments transformed astronomy in the late 1800s, observatory directors around the world started to employ women as cheap labour to help assemble and process vast amounts of photographic glass plates for new star catalogues.

Some of these ‘computers’ only stayed for a few months or years, but others became experts in their own right and forged long-term careers in astronomy and associated sciences.

Discover more about these pioneering women in an evening panel discussion and film screening at the Royal Observatory's Peter Harrison Planetarium in Greenwich.

Hear from researchers who have investigated women working at observatories in the UK, US and Australia. Who were these women? What did they do? What challenges did they face, and how did conditions vary between observatories?

The evening ends with a screening of Hidden Figures (2016) to illustrate the parallel themes of gender and race discrimination as experienced by women scientists in the Apollo space programme.

Date

Fri 28th Mar 2025
 from 6:00pm to 10:00pm

Location

Peter Harrison Planetarium
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Blackheath Avenue
Greenwich, London
SE10 8XJ

Prices

Standard Ticket: £10
Other price options
Student Ticket: £9

Contact and Booking Details

More information at .

Reserve tickets at this website, by phone, by email

Disclaimer

The information and prices in this listing are presumed to be correct at the time of publishing, but please always check with the venue before making a special trip.

All images are supplied by the exhibition organiser.

Peter Harrison Planetarium
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Blackheath Avenue
Greenwich, London
SE10 8XJ

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