ShareSave
Science Videographer
ShareSave
Astronomer Prof Michele Dougherty did not study science in secondary school – but was instead inspired to learn more about space after using her father’s telescope.
Now she is the first woman to be appointed the UK’s Astronomer Royal in the post’s 350-year history, and is part of the team sending probes to Jupiter’s icy moons.
She told BBC News she hoped her appointment on Wednesday as the official adviser to King Charles III on astronomical matters would inspire more women and girls to study science.
The new Astronomer Royal added that she also wanted to use her new role to “open people’s eyes” to the wonders of space.
“I want to engage with the public, excite them about what we do in astronomy, but also make it clear how important what we do is to the UK economy,” Prof Dougherty said.
Prof Docherty is involved in one of the most exciting space missions to date: a European Space Agency probe to the icy moons of Jupiter to assess whether they have the potential to support life.
“It would be surprising if there wasn’t life in our solar system,” she said laughing, with the unbridled enthusiasm she is known for.
Her journey to Jupiter began when she was ten at the age of ten and saw the planet through a telescope she, her sister and her father built.
“That was when I got my first view of Jupiter and four large moons, never thinking I’d end up sending instruments on a spacecraft
