Isis Pogson, (born Elizabeth Isis Pogson; 28 September 1852 – 14 May 1945), was a British

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

who was one of the first women to be elected as a fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

Early life

Elizabeth Isis Pogson was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England, on 28 September 1852, the eldest daughter of Norman Pogson by his first marriage to Elizabeth Jane Ambrose (died 1869). Pogson was one of the first women elected as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Elizabeth Isis was probably named after the

River Isis "The Isis" ( ) is an alternative name for the River Thames, used from its source in the Cotswolds until it is joined by the River Thame at Dorchester-on-Thames, Dorchester in Oxfordshire. Notably, the Isis flows through Oxford and has given i ...

, the part of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

that flows through Oxford.

Assisting astronomer in India

Her father Norman Pogson was an assistant at

Radcliffe Observatory Radcliffe Observatory was the astronomical observatory of the University of Oxford from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and built a new observatory in Pretoria, South Africa. It is a Grade I listed building. Today, the buil ...

and then at Hartwell Observatory. He discovered the

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

42 Isis on 23 May 1856, for which he was awarded the

Lalande Prize The Lalande Prize (French: ''Prix Lalande'' also known as Lalande Medal) was an award for scientific advances in astronomy, given from 1802 until 1970 by the French Academy of Sciences. The prize was endowed by astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1801 ...

. The asteroid was named by Professor Manuel 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. When her father became director of the

Madras Observatory The Madras Observatory was an astronomical observatory which had its origins in a private observatory set up by William Petrie in 1786 and later moved and managed by the British East India Company from 1792 in Madras (now known as Chennai). The ...

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, in October 1860, Isis travelled with him, her mother and two of her 10 siblings to his new post. Her mother Elizabeth Pogson died in 1869, and her father relied upon Isis to look after the other children. She also worked as her father's assistant whilst they lived in India from 1873 to 1881. She was given the post of

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

at the Madras Observatory in 1873 with the salary of 150

rupee Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currency, currencies of Indian rupee, India, Mauritian rupee, Mauritius, Nepalese rupee, Nepal, Pakistani rupee, Pakistan, Seychellois rupee, Seychelles, and Sri Lankan rupee, Sri Lanka, and of former cu ...

s, equivalent to a "cook or coach-man", and worked there for 25 years until she retired with a pension of 250 rupees in 1898, when the observatory closed. She served as the meteorological superintendent and reporter for the Madras government from 1881.

Fellowship of the Royal Astronomical Society

Pogson was the first woman to attempt to be elected a fellow of the

, being nominated (unsuccessfully) by her father and two other fellows in 1886. 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 as ''he''. Pogson (by then known by her married name Elizabeth Isis Kent) was successfully nominated in 1920 by Oxford professor H. H. Turner, five years after the Royal Astronomical Society first opened its doors to women.

Personal

After retiring from astronomy, she married Herbert Clement Kent, a captain in the Merchant Navy, on 17 August 1902 in

Red Hill, Queensland Red Hill is an inner northern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Red Hill had a population of 5,834 people. Geography Red Hill is by road north-west of the Brisbane CBD. The ...

, Australia. The couple returned to England, living in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

and then London. Pogson died in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

on 14 May 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pogson, Elizabeth Isis 1852 births 1945 deaths 19th-century British astronomers British meteorologists 19th-century British women scientists 20th-century British astronomers People from Oxford British women astronomers