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Maria Mitchell (August 1, 1818 – June 28, 1889) was an American astronomer. Maria's father taught her astronomy using his personal telescope. At the age of 12, she aided her father in calculating the exact moment of a solar eclipse. In 1835, Maria opened her own school and made the decision to allow nonwhite children to attend her school, a controversial move as the local public school was still segregated at the time. At 10:50 pm on the night of October 1, 1847, using a Dollond refracting telescope with three inches of aperture and forty six inch focal length, Maria discovered Comet 1847 VI. Under her father's name Mitchell published a notice of her discovery in January 1848. The following month, she submitted her calculation of the comet's orbit, ensuring her claim as the original discoverer. She won a gold medal prize for her discovery, which was presented to her by King Frederick VI of Denmark. She became the first woman elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1848 and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1850. She became professor of astronomy at Vassar College in 1865, the first person appointed to the faculty. Mitchell never married, but remained close to her immediate family throughout her life. She died of brain disease in 1889, at the age of 70. No photographer credited, undated.
