Discovery of Uranus


Discovery of Uranus

The book of science

Tom Sharp

William Herschel astronomy

Discovery of Uranus



William Herschel was a musician and composer of church music, many concertos, and twenty-four symphonies.

Speculum is an alloy of about two-thirds copper and one-third tin. Isaac Newton made a 1.3-inch speculum mirror for the first successful reflecting telescope in 1668.

An altazimuth mount lets the telescope move on two perpendicular axes, one vertical and the other horizontal.

Herschel discovered two moons of Uranus, Titania and Oberon, and two moons of Saturn, Mimas and Enceladus. William’s son John named these moons after William died.

Although he did not discover the first asteroid, Herschel coin the term “asteroid” from the Greek for “star-shape.”

Herschel measured the tilt of Mars and discovered its ice caps. “He was the first to realize that the solar system is moving through space, and he determined the approximate direction of that movement. He also studied the structure of the Milky Way and concluded that it was in the shape of a disk.”

Herschel discovered the infrared spectrum in sunlight.

See also in The book of science:

Readings on wikipedia: