About Carolyn S. Shoemaker
Carolyn Jean Spellmann Shoemaker (June 24, 1929 – August 13, 2021) was an American astronomer and a co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9. She discovered 32 comets (then a record for the most by an individual) and more than 500 asteroids. Having earned degrees in history, political science, and English literature, she had little interest in planetary science until she met and married geologist Eugene Merle Shoemaker. Her career in astronomy began when she demonstrated good stereoscopic vision, a particularly valuable quality for looking for objects in near-Earth space. Despite the fact that her degrees were not in science, having that visual ability motivated the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to hire her as a research assistant on a team led by her husband. She went on to making record-setting discoveries in the field of astronomy, as well as being awarded honorary degrees and many professional awards. Carolyn first met him in the summer of 1950 at her brother's wedding. Carolyn's second answer: "We would all be very uncomfortable." Shortly after her marriage, the first job she held was teaching the seventh grade. The Hildian asteroid 4446 Carolyn, discovered by colleague Edward Bowell at Lowell Observatory in 1985, was named in her honor. She discovered 32 comets and more than 500 asteroids.
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