Well, she explained that she was tired of other people taking credit for things she did, including/especially at work. But I didn't find that particularly convincing either, especially for that specific circumstance.

Feminism has nothing to do with it. All that time spent with Sheldon and she doesn't take credit for something she did? What abut the episode where Sheldon and Leonard were fighting over the paper they worked on together? However we'll never know the new name of the comet as that will reveal Penny's mysterious last name. Penny took the picture. It doesn't matter if it would mean little to her. Penny can be polite and share with Raj. Or not. Science is a harsh mistress.

Penny saw it first, brought it to Raj's attention and then took the picture of it. It would not have been discovered without her. She deserves the credit and can share it with Raj. Raj should have acknowledged her from the beginning.

Somehow I don't think that Raj would have seen the comet in time if Penny didn't see it first

@znexyish said:

Feminism has nothing to do with it. All that time spent with Sheldon and she doesn't take credit for something she did? What abut the episode where Sheldon and Leonard were fighting over the paper they worked on together? However we'll never know the new name of the comet as that will reveal Penny's mysterious last name. Penny took the picture. It doesn't matter if it would mean little to her. Penny can be polite and share with Raj. Or not. Science is a harsh mistress.

Obviously, not a "Breaking Bad" fan--are you?

@znexyish said:

Feminism has nothing to do with it. All that time spent with Sheldon and she doesn't take credit for something she did? What abut the episode where Sheldon and Leonard were fighting over the paper they worked on together? However we'll never know the new name of the comet as that will reveal Penny's mysterious last name. Penny took the picture. It doesn't matter if it would mean little to her. Penny can be polite and share with Raj. Or not. Science is a harsh mistress.

Penny's last name is Hofstadter.

@FormerlyKnownAs said:

Well...

We (despite what Raj said) know that legally, even though it was Raj’s phone, the picture belongs to Penny since she is the one who took it. Even so, the discovery of the Comet, in itself, means nothing to Penny--the science means nothing to her. I think Raj's monkey analogy was on point.

And...

Unlike with Raj, there is no reward, accolades, or recognition to be had for her in being listed as co-discoverer.

So...

Why was she fighting so hard to have her name on the registration form? All of a sudden, she is some big time feminist . Don't see it.

I think her anger was a manifestation of all the times she felt she wasn't taken seriously by other people, just like she expressed to Leonard.

Raj was dismissive of her involvement because she usually wouldn't care; she wanted credit for credit's sake, not because Astronomy interests her. Neither was 100% in the right IMO.

Penny chose a poor "hill to die on." The "discovery" was far more important to Raj and for his career. If nothing else, a good friend should have been able to understand that and let Raj have the full credit on that occasion. Maybe the first time Penny really stands up for herself, should be AT WORK. That's where most of her problems in that area seem to be. The worst that could happen is she gets fired, which would actually be a plus since she no longer likes that job anyway. Even if she hasn't already paid off her mountain of debt (which seems unlikely at this point), it would just take a little longer to pay the rest.

I never thought of Penny as a pushover before. She had a lot of moments where she stood up for things that the guys didn't. Now Leonard wanting to make everyone happy and Raj wanting some fame all for himself I get.

Yeah, one of the few things that could explain it would be that Penny decided to stay with the high-paying job to straighten out her finances. So if she felt strongly enough about that, she might be more on the go-along-to-get-along side there, to preserve that situation. Otherwise, it doesn't make a lot of sense that she'd be letting people walk over her to the point of blowing up at Raj. Not like this would be the first inconsistency in the show, of course. Just for one other example, the "marriage agreement" between her and Leonard hasn't been mentioned again. Not that it made sense to start with. Leonard taking Penny for granted? Be serious!