Fleming: The lunar crater named after a Dundonian
- Andrew Batchelor
- 13 hours ago
- 1 min read
On the far side of the Moon, hidden from direct view on Earth, lies a remarkable tribute to one of Dundee’s most influential scientific figures.
The Fleming crater, a vast and rugged impact site, is named after Williamina Fleming - a woman whose work helped transform our understanding of the universe.
The crater was named in her honour - alongside fellow Scot Alexander Fleming back in 1970.
Who was Williamina Fleming?
Born in Dundee in 1857, Williamina Fleming moved to the United States and began working at the Harvard College Observatory as a maid, she later became part of a pioneering group of women analysing photographic plates of the night sky.
It was here that she made some of her most significant contributions, including helping to develop systems for classifying stars and identifying previously unknown celestial objects.
Among her achievements was the discovery of the Horsehead Nebula, now one of the most recognisable features in the night sky. She also played a key role in identifying white dwarf stars - work that would go on to influence generations of astronomers and deepen our understanding of stellar evolution.
The naming of a lunar crater in her honour is a fitting recognition of that legacy. The Fleming crater itself sits on the Moon’s far side, a region that remained largely mysterious until the space age allowed us to map it in detail.
Its placement there carries a certain symbolism - a once unseen landscape named after a woman whose contributions were, for many years, underappreciated.
