Frederick William HerschelFrederick William Herschel (1738-1822) is perhaps most famous for his discovery of Uranus, the first planet found since antiquity, on March 13, 1781.
Herschel was born in Hanover, Germany and became well known as both as musician and an amateur astronomer.
He immigrated to England in 1757, and with his sister Caroline, began making the most advanced instrument of the time. The discovery of Uranus was made using a home made 15.7 cm (6.2 in) reflector.
His later creations included telescope of the day – a 12 m (40 ft) long instrument with a 1.9 m (48 in) mirror.
Appointed the personal astronomer to King George III (after whom he named the new planet), he later discover two satellites of Uranus (Titania and Oberon) in 1787, followed by two moons of Saturn (Mimas and Enceladus) in 1789.
In 1800, he discovered what he called “caloric rays” (now known as infrared radiation) during studies of the “rainbow” created when light is divided into its color by a prism. It was the first time that someone had shown the existence of forms of light that our yes cannot see.
At the very end of his life he was elected to be the first president of the newly founded Royal Astronomical Society.
