Giant leap for women: early ‘lady’ astronomers have asteroids named in their honour

19th-century trailblazers Annie Maunder and Alice Everett finally earn due recognition for decades of largely unattributed work

They charted the stars for pitiful wages, knowing their observations about the universe would be attributed to male colleagues, and died in relative obscurity, their scientific achievements unrecognised and overlooked.

Now, in a tribute to trailblazing British female astronomers, two asteroids have been named for Annie Maunder and Alice Everett, among the first women in the world to earn a living in astronomy.