South Africa (04 August 2025) – It’s not every day someone from South Africa helps rewrite history on another continent. But that’s exactly what Professor Michele Dougherty has done, becoming the first woman ever appointed as the UK’s Astronomer Royal in the title’s 350-year existence. And the best part? Her story began under southern skies.
Professor Dougherty was born in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and spent her formative years there, long before her name would appear in textbooks and space science missions. As a child, science wasn’t even on the cards, the school she chose to attend didn’t offer it as a subject.
“One of them taught science, but none of my friends were going to it,” she told the BBC. “So as a young 13-year-old, I thought, I want to go with my friends.”
But even then, something was already taking shape. At around 10 years old, her father built a telescope, and Michele helped mix the concrete for its base. Through it, she saw Jupiter and its four largest moons for the very first time. All from their KZN backyard.
“That was when I got my first view of Jupiter… never thinking I’d end up sending instruments on a spacecraft there,” she said.
Fast forward to today, and not only has she done that, but she’s also played a lead role in major international space missions. Her work with NASA’s Cassini mission revealed strong evidence that Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, has a subsurface ocean with the potential to support life. She’s also been instrumental in the European Space Agency’s ongoing mission to explore Jupiter’s icy moons, which might hold similar promise.
Now, it’s her appointment as Astronomer Royal that has left her pinching herself.
“I’m having to pinch myself at the thought that I’m now Astronomer Royal!”
Source: The Good Things Guy
