Sister Maria Celeste (born Virginia Gamba; 16 August 1600 – 2 April 1634) was an Italian nun.

Troubled by monetary problems, Galileo placed them in the San Matteo convent shortly after Virginia's thirteenth birthday.

[3] When she took the veil in 1616, Virginia chose her religious name, Maria Celeste, in honour of the Virgin Mary and her father's love of astronomy.

Shortly after Galileo returned to Arcetri in disgrace, Maria Celeste contracted dysentery and died on 2 April 1634, aged 33.

Galileo described Maria Celeste as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me".