Frederick William Herschel[2][3] 

KH, FRS (/ˈhɜːrʃəl, ˈhɛər-/;[4] German: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel; 15

November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-born British[5] astronomer and composer. He
frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel (1750–
1848). Born in the Electorate of Hanover, William Herschel followed his father into the military band
of Hanover, before emigrating to Great Britain in 1757 at the age of nineteen.
Herschel constructed his first large telescope in 1774, after which he spent nine years carrying out
sky surveys to investigate double stars. Herschel published catalogues of nebulae in 1802 (2,500
objects) and in 1820 (5,000 objects). The resolving power of the Herschel telescopes revealed that
many objects called nebulae in the Messier catalogue were actually clusters of stars. On 13 March
1781 while making observations he made note of a new object in the constellation of Gemini. This
would, after several weeks of verification and consultation with other astronomers, be confirmed to
be a new planet, eventually given the name of Uranus. This was the first planet to be discovered
since antiquity, and Herschel became famous overnight. As a result of this discovery, George
III appointed him Court Astronomer. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and grants
were provided for the construction of new telescopes.
Herschel pioneered the use of astronomical spectrophotometry, using prisms and temperature
measuring equipment to measure the wavelength distribution of stellar spectra. In the course of
these investigations, Herschel discovered infrared radiation.[6] Other work included an improved
determination of the rotation period of Mars,[7] the discovery that the Martian polar caps vary
seasonally, the discovery of Titania and Oberon (moons of Uranus)
and Enceladus and Mimas (moons of Saturn). Herschel was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic
Order in 1816. He was the first President of the Royal Astronomical Society when it was founded in
1820. He died in August 1822, and his work was continued by his only son, John Herschel.

Contents
1Early life and musical activities
2Astronomy
2.1Double stars
2.2Uranus
2.3Deep sky surveys
2.4Works with his sister Caroline
2.5Herschel's telescopes
2.5.140-foot telescope
2.5.2Reconstruction of the 20-foot telescope
2.6Life on other celestial bodies
2.7Sunspots, climate and wheat yields
2.8Further discoveries
3Discovery of infrared radiation in sunlight
4Biology
5Family and death
6Memorial
7Musical works
8Named after Herschel
9See also
10References
11Sources
12Further reading
13External links

Early life and musical activities[edit]

Herschel was born in the Electorate of Hanover in Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire,
one of ten children of Issak Herschel and his wife Anna Ilse Moritzen, of German Lutheran ancestry.
His forefathers came from Pirna, in Saxony. Theories that they were Protestants from Bohemia have
been questioned by Hamel,[citation needed] since the surname Herschel already occurs a century earlier in
the very same area that the family lived in.
Herschel's father was an oboist in the Hanover Military Band. In 1755 the Hanoverian Guards
regiment, in whose band Wilhelm and his brother Jakob were engaged as oboists, was ordered to
England. At the time the crowns of Great Britain and Hanover were united under King George II. As
the threat of war with France loomed, the Hanoverian Guards were recalled from England to defend
Hanover. After they were defeated at the Battle of Hastenbeck, Herschel's father Isaak sent his two
sons to seek refuge in England in late 1757. Although his older brother Jakob had received his
dismissal from the Hanoverian Guards, Wilhelm was accused of desertion[8] (for which he was
pardoned by George III in 1782).[9]
Wilhelm, nineteen years old at this time, was a quick student of the English language. In England he
went by the English rendition of his name, Frederick William Herschel.
In addition to the oboe, he played the violin and harpsichord and later the organ.[10] He composed
numerous musical works, including 24 symphonies and many concertos, as well as some church
music.[11] Six of his symphonies were recorded in April 2002 by the London Mozart Players,
conducted by Matthias Bamert (Chandos 10048).[12]

Original manuscript of Symphony No. 15 in E-flat major (1762)

Herschel moved to Sunderland in 1761 when Charles Avison engaged him as first violin and soloist
for his Newcastle orchestra, where he played for one season. In "Sunderland in the County of Durh:
apprill [sic] 20th 1761" he wrote his Symphony No. 8 in C Minor. He was head of the Durham
Militia band from 1760 to 1761.[13] He visited the home of Sir Ralph Milbanke at Halnaby Hall
near Darlington in 1760,[14]: 14  where he wrote two symphonies, as well as giving performances
himself. After Newcastle, he moved to Leeds and Halifax where he was the first organist at St John
the Baptist church (now Halifax Minster).[15]: 411 
In 1766, Herschel became organist of the Octagon Chapel, Bath, a fashionable chapel in a well-
known spa, in which city he was also Director of Public Concerts.[16] He was appointed as the
organist in 1766 and gave his introductory concert on 1 January 1767. As the organ was still
incomplete, he showed off his versatility by performing his own compositions including a violin
concerto, an oboe concerto and a harpsichord sonata.[17] On 4 October 1767, he performed on the
organ for the official opening of the Octagon Chapel.[18]
His sister Caroline arrived in England on 24 August 1772 to live with William in New King Street,
Bath.[2]: 1–25  The house they shared is now the location of the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.
[19]
 Herschel's brothers Dietrich, Alexander and Jakob (1734–1792) also appeared as musicians of
Bath.[20] In 1780, Herschel was appointed director of the Bath orchestra, with his sister often
appearing as soprano soloist.[21][22]

Astronomy[edit]

Replica in the William Herschel Museum, Bath, of a telescope similar to that with which Herschel
discovered Uranus

Herschel's mirror polisher, on display in the Science Museum, London

Herschel's reading in natural philosophy during the 1770s indicates his personal interests but also
suggests an intention to be upwardly mobile socially and professionally. He was well-positioned to
engage with eighteenth-century "philosophical Gentleman" or philomaths, of wide-ranging logical
and practical tastes.[22] Herschel's intellectual curiosity and interest in music eventually led him to
astronomy. After reading Robert Smith's Harmonics, or the Philosophy of Musical Sounds (1749), he
took up Smith's A Compleat System of Opticks (1738), which described techniques of telescope
construction.[23] He also read James Ferguson's Astronomy explained upon Sir Isaac Newton's
principles and made easy to those who have not studied mathematics (1756) and William
Emerson's The elements of trigonometry (1749), The elements of optics (1768) and The principles
of mechanics (1754).[22]
Herschel took lessons from a local mirror-builder and having obtained both tools and a level of
expertise, started building his own reflecting telescopes. He would spend up to 16 hours a day
grinding and polishing the speculum metal primary mirrors. He relied on the assistance of other
family members, particularly his sister Caroline and his brother Alexander, a skilled mechanical
craftsperson.[22]
He "began to look at the planets and the stars"[24] in May 1773 and on 1 March 1774 began an
astronomical journal by noting his observations of Saturn's rings and the Great Orion Nebula (M42).
[22]
 The English Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne visited the Herschels while they were
at Walcot (which they left on 29 September 1777).[25] By 1779, Herschel had also made the
acquaintance of Sir William Watson, who invited him to join the Bath Philosophical Society.
[22]
 Herschel became an active member, and through Watson would greatly enlarge his circle of
contacts.[23][26] A few years later, in 1785, Herschel was elected an international member of
the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.[27]
Frederick William Herschel[2][3] KH, FRS (/ˈhɜːrʃəl, ˈhɛər-/;[4] German: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel; 15
November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-born British[5] astronomer and composer. He
frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel (1750–1848).
Born in the Electorate of Hanover, William Herschel followed his father into the military band of
Hanover, before emigrating to Great Britain in 1757 at the age of nineteen.

Herschel constructed his first large telescope in 1774, after which he spent nine years carrying out sky
surveys to investigate double stars. Herschel published catalogues of nebulae in 1802 (2,500 objects)
and in 1820 (5,000 objects). The resolving power of the Herschel telescopes revealed that many
objects called nebulae in the Messier catalogue were actually clusters of stars. On 13 March 1781
while making observations he made note of a new object in the constellation of Gemini. This would,
after several weeks of verification and consultation with other astronomers, be confirmed to be a new
planet, eventually given the name of Uranus. This was the first planet to be discovered since antiquity,
and Herschel became famous overnight. As a result of this discovery, George III appointed him Court
Astronomer. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and grants were provided for the
construction of new telescopes.

Herschel pioneered the use of astronomical spectrophotometry, using prisms and temperature
measuring equipment to measure the wavelength distribution of stellar spectra. In the course of these
investigations, Herschel discovered infrared radiation.[6] Other work included an improved
determination of the rotation period of Mars,[7] the discovery that the Martian polar caps vary
seasonally, the discovery of Titania and Oberon (moons of Uranus) and Enceladus and Mimas (moons
of Saturn). Herschel was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1816. He was the first President
of the Royal Astronomical Society when it was founded in 1820. He died in August 1822, and his work
was continued by his only son, John Herschel.

Early life and musical activities

Herschel was born in the Electorate of Hanover in Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, one
of ten children of Issak Herschel and his wife Anna Ilse Moritzen, of German Lutheran ancestry. His
forefathers came from Pirna, in Saxony. Theories that they were Protestants from Bohemia have been
questioned by Hamel,[citation needed] since the surname Herschel already occurs a century earlier in
the very same area that the family lived in.

Herschel's father was an oboist in the Hanover Military Band. In 1755 the Hanoverian Guards
regiment, in whose band Wilhelm and his brother Jakob were engaged as oboists, was ordered to
England. At the time the crowns of Great Britain and Hanover were united under King George II. As
the threat of war with France loomed, the Hanoverian Guards were recalled from England to defend
Hanover. After they were defeated at the Battle of Hastenbeck, Herschel's father Isaak sent his two
sons to seek refuge in England in late 1757. Although his older brother Jakob had received his
dismissal from the Hanoverian Guards, Wilhelm was accused of desertion[8] (for which he was
pardoned by George III in 1782).[9]

Wilhelm, nineteen years old at this time, was a quick student of the English language. In England he
went by the English rendition of his name, Frederick William Herschel.

In addition to the oboe, he played the violin and harpsichord and later the organ.[10] He composed
numerous musical works, including 24 symphonies and many concertos, as well as some church music.
[11] Six of his symphonies were recorded in April 2002 by the London Mozart Players, conducted by
Matthias Bamert (Chandos 10048).[12]

Original manuscript of Symphony No. 15 in E-flat major (1762)

Herschel moved to Sunderland in 1761 when Charles Avison engaged him as first violin and soloist for
his Newcastle orchestra, where he played for one season. In "Sunderland in the County of Durh:
apprill [sic] 20th 1761" he wrote his Symphony No. 8 in C Minor. He was head of the Durham Militia
band from 1760 to 1761.[13] He visited the home of Sir Ralph Milbanke at Halnaby Hall near
Darlington in 1760,[14]: 14  where he wrote two symphonies, as well as giving performances himself.
After Newcastle, he moved to Leeds and Halifax where he was the first organist at St John the Baptist
church (now Halifax Minster).[15]: 411 
In 1766, Herschel became organist of the Octagon Chapel, Bath, a fashionable chapel in a well-known
spa, in which city he was also Director of Public Concerts.[16] He was appointed as the organist in
1766 and gave his introductory concert on 1 January 1767. As the organ was still incomplete, he
showed off his versatility by performing his own compositions including a violin concerto, an oboe
concerto and a harpsichord sonata.[17] On 4 October 1767, he performed on the organ for the official
opening of the Octagon Chapel.[18]

His sister Caroline arrived in England on 24 August 1772 to live with William in New King Street, Bath.
[2]: 1–25  The house they shared is now the location of the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.[19]
Herschel's brothers Dietrich, Alexander and Jakob (1734–1792) also appeared as musicians of Bath.
[20] In 1780, Herschel was appointed director of the Bath orchestra, with his sister often appearing as
soprano soloist.[21][22]

Astronomy

Replica in the William Herschel Museum, Bath, of a telescope similar to that with which Herschel
discovered Uranus

Herschel's mirror polisher, on display in the Science Museum, London

Herschel's reading in natural philosophy during the 1770s indicates his personal interests but also
suggests an intention to be upwardly mobile socially and professionally. He was well-positioned to
engage with eighteenth-century "philosophical Gentleman" or philomaths, of wide-ranging logical and
practical tastes.[22] Herschel's intellectual curiosity and interest in music eventually led him to
astronomy. After reading Robert Smith's Harmonics, or the Philosophy of Musical Sounds (1749), he
took up Smith's A Compleat System of Opticks (1738), which described techniques of telescope
construction.[23] He also read James Ferguson's Astronomy explained upon Sir Isaac Newton's
principles and made easy to those who have not studied mathematics (1756) and William Emerson's
The elements of trigonometry (1749), The elements of optics (1768) and The principles of mechanics
(1754).[22]

Herschel took lessons from a local mirror-builder and having obtained both tools and a level of
expertise, started building his own reflecting telescopes. He would spend up to 16 hours a day
grinding and polishing the speculum metal primary mirrors. He relied on the assistance of other family
members, particularly his sister Caroline and his brother Alexander, a skilled mechanical craftsperson.
[22]
He "began to look at the planets and the stars"[24] in May 1773 and on 1 March 1774 began an
astronomical journal by noting his observations of Saturn's rings and the Great Orion Nebula (M42).
[22] The English Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne visited the Herschels while they were at Walcot
(which they left on 29 September 1777).[25] By 1779, Herschel had also made the acquaintance of Sir
William Watson, who invited him to join the Bath Philosophical Society.[22] Herschel became an
active member, and through Watson would greatly enlarge his circle of contacts.[23][26] A few years
later, in 1785, Herschel was elected an international member of the American Philosophical Society in
Philadelphia.[27]