In the early 20th century, a team of "human computers" — women tasked with the grueling labor of manual astronomical data processing — went far beyond their job descriptions, not to mention the societal norms of the time, to revolutionize astronomy.
The technological developments of the late 1800s were a blessing and a curse for astronomy. The invention of the photograph created an entirely new way to perform astronomical imaging. No longer were astronomers tied to the eyepieces of their telescopes, forced to make sketches and diagrams of what they saw. Now a small team of astronomers could spend night after night simply collecting as many images as they possibly could, and save all the cataloging and studying for later. Plus, photography allowed telescopes to capture much fainter stars, far beyond what the human eye could perceive, allowing astronomers to pull in unprecedented numbers of stars.
