William Herschel was born in Germany. He moved to England and worked there most of his life. He lived between 1738-1822. He built powerful telescopes which let him observe the heavens with greater detail. Herschel discovered the planet Uranus and studied what dying stars look like. He was also the first person to look beyond our own solar system and suggest that galaxies other than the Milky Way existed. |
William Herschel was born in Germany and lived in England as he worked as an astronomer. He lived between 1738-1822. He built high magnification telescopes that let him observe the heavens with greater detail. Herschel discovered the planet Uranus and advanced our understanding of nebulae, the hazy clouds that surround dying stars. He also founded stellar astronomy, the study of the region beyond our own solar system. Our modern sense of a galaxy's shape is very similar to what Herschel had proposed hundreds of years earlier. |
William Herschel was born in Germany and lived in England while he worked as an astronomer. He lived between 1738-1822. He built reflecting telescopes of high magnification, that let him observe the universe with greater detail. Herschel discovered the planet Uranus. He also advanced our understanding of nebulae, the greenish, hazy clouds that surround dying stars. Herschel identified about 2,500 nebulae whereas only 100 nebulae had been found before him. He also founded stellar astronomy, the study of the region beyond our solar system. In fact, he found more than 800 binary stars, pairs of stars that orbit a common center of gravity. At a time when scientific study focused on the planets and comets, Herschel suggested that the clusters of stars visible in the night sky were actually separate galaxies, similar to our own Milky Way. |
