Skip to content

Williamena Fleming Award

Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming was a US astronomer from Scotland. Fleming helped develop a common designation system for stars and cataloged thousands of stars and other astronomical phenomena. Among several career achievements that advanced astronomy, Fleming is noted for her discovery of the Horsehead Nebula in 1888.

Williamena Fleming made huge contributions to astronomy in her lifetime, breaking gender barriers in the field of science, and is the photographic discoverer of the Horsehead Nebula. 

Explore Scientific is the official underwriter of the Astronomical League's Williamena Fleming Imaging Award, an annual women's astrophotography award.