Not to be confused with Maia Mitchell, Australian actress and singer.Maria Mitchell (August 1, 1818 – June 28, 1889) (pron: [m?'ra??]) was an American astronomer who, in 1847, by using a telescope, discovered a comet which as a result became known as "Miss Mitchell's Comet". She won a gold medal prize for her discovery which was presented to her by King Frederick VII of Denmark. On the medal was inscribed "Non Frustra Signorum Obitus Speculamur et Ortus" in Latin (taken from Georgics by Virgil (Book I, line 257) (English: “Not in vain do we watch the setting and rising of the stars”). Mitchell was the first American woman to work as a professional astronomer.One of ten children, she was raised in the Quaker religion but later adopted Christian Unitarianism.
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