Isis Pogson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elizabeth Isis Pogson 28 September 1852 Oxford, England |
| Died | 14 May 1945(1945-05-14) (aged 92) Croydon, London, England |
| Other names | Elizabeth Isis Kent |
| Known for | Astronomy |
Elizabeth Isis PogsonFRAS (28 September 1852 – 14 May 1945),[1] was a Britishastronomer andmeteorologist who was one of the first women to be elected as a fellow of theRoyal Astronomical Society.
Elizabeth Isis Pogson was born inOxford, England, on 28 September 1852, the eldest[2] daughter ofNorman Pogson by his first marriage to Elizabeth Jane Ambrose (died 1869).[1] Pogson was one of the first women elected as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.[3] Elizabeth Isis was probably named after theRiver Isis, the part of theRiver Thames that flows through Oxford.[4]
Her father Norman Pogson was an assistant atRadcliffe Observatory and then at Hartwell Observatory. He discovered theasteroid42 Isis on 23 May 1856,[4][5] for which he was awarded theLalande Prize.[6] The asteroid was named by ProfessorManuel John Johnson, director of the Radcliffe Observatory, presumably in honour of Pogson's daughter Isis; it could also have been a reference to the River Isis.[4]
When her father became director of theMadras Observatory inMadras, India, in October 1860, Isis travelled with him, her mother and two of her 10 siblings to his new post.[5][1] Her mother Elizabeth Pogson died in 1869, and her father relied upon Isis to look after the other children.[7] She also worked as her father's assistant whilst they lived in India from 1873 to 1881.[6][8] She was given the post ofcomputer at the Madras Observatory in 1873 with the salary of 150rupees,[7][9] equivalent to a "cook or coach-man",[6] and worked there for 25 years until she retired with a pension of 250 rupees[7] in 1898, when the observatory closed. She served as the meteorological superintendent and reporter for the Madras government from 1881.[2][10][11]
Pogson was the first woman to attempt to be elected a fellow of theRoyal Astronomical Society, being nominated (unsuccessfully) by her father and two other fellows in 1886.[6] Although the society had elected a few women as honorary members, all the fellows had been male up to this time. Her nomination was withdrawn when two lawyers deemed female fellows illegal under the provisions of the society's royal charter dating from 1831, which referred to fellows only ashe.[12][13] Pogson (by then known by her married name Elizabeth Isis Kent) was successfully nominated in 1920 by Oxford professorH. H. Turner, five years after the Royal Astronomical Society first opened its doors to women.[7][14][15]
After retiring from astronomy, she married Herbert Clement Kent, a captain in theMerchant Navy,[7] on 17 August 1902 inRed Hill, Queensland, Australia.[2] The couple returned to England, living inBournemouth and then London. Pogson died inCroydon on 14 May 1945.[7]
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