William Herschel
1738 - 1822
Sir William Herschel became interested in astronomy
at the age of thirty-five. Through early readings of Ferguson and Smith,
Herschel became a skilled telescope maker. In the year 1774, Herschel made
specula mirrors superior to any other mirrors of the time. With the specula
mirrors, Herschel started to "observe the heavens". William's first
observation was of Orion Nebula, which he had read about in Smith's
works.
On March 13, 1781, Herschel discovered the planet
Uranus. Upon first observation, Herschel believed the planet was a comet. As a
result of his discovery, Herschel was elected to the Royal Society in December
of 1781. It was there that he was awarded an annual grant from King Gorge III
of England to become the Court Astronomer of the King.
In 1783, Herschel’s observations lead to the
discovery of the Solar Motion. He determined that our solar system was moving
between the neighboring stars in the direction of the star Lambda Herculis. In
1787, Herschel discovered two moons of Uranus: Titania and Oberon. In 1789, he
discovered Saturn’s sixth and seventh moon, Enceladus and Mimas.
Before 1781, Herschel had only observed four
nebulae: The Orion Nebula, M43, globular cluster M5, and Andromeda “Nebula”
M31. After that he spent years systematically studying the sky. After a year
and a half (1786), he cataloged 1,000 new objects; three years (1789), after
that he cataloged 1,000 more objects. Herschel’s final addition to the catalog
was in 1802, in which he added 500 more objects. By the end of his career,
William Herschel discovered about 2,500 new nebulae and star cluster in 20
years.
After Herschel passed away,
the astronomical community honored him by naming Moon crater Herschel. Herschel
was the most celebrated astronomer of his time. He contributed to most of the branches
of astronomy. He investigated the proper motion of the stars, derived the peculiar
motion of the solar system, modeled the Milky Way galaxy from stellar statics,
and speculated about the nature of the nebulae.
Written by: Rachael Del Boccio
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