He built his first telescope when he was only 20, using mirrors, lenses, and parts of an old Buick car. He used instructions from a 1925 issue of Popular Astronomy. Through the telescope he made observations of Jupiter and Mars. He sent his drawn renditions of Jupiter and Mars to the Lowell Observatory, hoping to get feedback from professional astronomers. Instead, they offered him a job.
He was an astronomer and helped solidify Copernicus’s idea of the heliocentric
William Herschel was the first to notice this odd object and was curious to find out more. This odd object, Uranus, was the first planet in recorded history to be discovered. The discovery of Uranus was just the beginning of William Herschel’s discoveries. He left his work with music and became
William Herschel Discovered Uranus William Herschel was born in 1738 and was known as a musician; he taught, composed, and performed music. However, he became interested in astronomy and began viewing the stars through a telescope that he had borrowed. Later, he began designing his own telescopes which enabled him to view objects at a greater distance. Instead of randomly studying the sky at night, he worked methodically across the entire sky and carefully wrote down his observations.
What was the motivation that led to the discovery? William Herschcel was self-motivated. He discovered Uranus with a telescope that he built himself. One night as he was surveying stars he noticed that some stars seemed different, and after he began to observe it many more times he noticed it orbited the sun. This lead to the discovery of Uranus and two of its moons.
He thought it was a comet at first. Realizing he had problems with his calculations in regards of size and distance, his well-connected friends advised him to correspond with the appropriate astronomical society in England early on, which ended up being a blessing and a curse. He thought an established astronomer with a telescope at an observatory would be better equipped to
After many nights of observing and charting stars and other planets, he saw a large object near one of the constellations. At first he thought it was a comet but months later another astronomer confirmed that it was
William Herschel was a very intelligent self-taught astronomer. His desire to learn more about the Heavens and how were they made seems to have been his biggest motivation. He was an amateur astronomer, but he was very good at it. In March 1781, Herschel discovered the planet Uranus. At first, like many other astronomers before him, he thought it was a star or a comet.
Uranus was originally thought to be a comet because of Herschel’s discovery. The true beauty of a scientific community shines through what happened next in history. Due to the research carried out by William Herschel other astronomers investigated this “comet” and many suggested it to be other things. A Russian astronomer named Anders Johann Lexell actually was the one who calculated an orbit for this comet which gave reason to many other astronomers to believe that this comet was in fact a planet which of course we know now holds true. Herschel became famous because of this discover and I think the greatest thing to come of his discovery is that he “was able to continue with his unique program of astronomical observation.
Out of the eight planets in our solar system, Uranus is the seventh farthest away from the sun and cannot be seen by the naked eye. It was actually the first planet to be discovered with the use of a telescope. The discovery of Uranus was made on March 13th, 1781 by William Herschel, a british astronomer and composer who was born in Germany. Uranus is described to be “rolling around on the sun on its side” because of the fact that is was tipped on its side with a tilt of ninety-eight degrees. Herschel originally thought that he discovered a comet but after a few years it was classified as a planet.
Astronomy: Discovery of Uranus by William Herschel in 1781 In 1781 Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel. Uranus was discovered with the help of a telescope, in fact it was the first planet that was discovered with the use of a telescope. All prior planets and moons that had been discovered had been done with the naked eye. Herschel also discovered two of the twenty seven moons that orbit Uranus.
He sent his findings to the Royal Society. Herschel turned his discovery over to the professional astronomers believing he did
The discovery of Uranus wasn't clear and dry. There were several observations of the very planet, like in 1690 John Flamsteed reportedly spotted it over six times but was mistaken for a star because of its slow speed movement in the atmosphere. In 1781, William Herschel made an astounding discovery of a new planet in our solar system. This discovery was the first to be made in the modern era, as well as the farthest planet discovered so far in our galaxy. Herschel’s original plan was to name this new planet after the King of England.
The discovery of Uranus by William Herschel took an interesting route. William Herschel was not even a professional astronomer. He “was conducting a comprehensive sky survey . . . He had no intention to discover new comets and establish their orbits, and he certainly never expected to find a new planet.” Through much of 1781 many thought of his discovery as a comet.
One of the most well known astronomers of all time is Nicolaus Copernicus. He was known to think outside of the box and dreamt of bigger things in life. Copernicus did not see the world and its surroundings like everyone else did. Having such a brilliant mind helped him discover an important theory. Many scientists and astronomers would never see our solar system the same.
