Fredrick's Observations Through A Homemade Telescope

Born in 1738, Fredrick William Herschel, as a young adult, he was interested in music and moved to England to excel at the oboe. During his lifetime, he composed 26 symphonies as well as several other shorter works. An introduction to astronomy and mathematics by his father turned out to be his new passion. A fascination with telescopes peaked his interest and, in 1774, he constructed his first large telescope. He would spend multiple hours a day polishing and grinding the mirrors used in the telescopes. Observations through a homemade telescope created an excitement in gaining additional knowledge about the universe and the stars. By developing a more powerful telescope, Fredrick was able to observe beyond the beginning of the universe, where most of the other astronomers of that day focused.

In 1781 as he was searching for double stars, Fredrick identified an unusual object. Immediately, he knew there was more to the solar system than what the naked eye could detect. At first, what he thought he was observing was a comet. But just four days later he recognized that the
motion of the object was not that of a typical comet, instead, it was that of a planet.

Astronomer of the 17th century, Galileo, was one of the first to see the planet Uranus.
Assuming that it was a star, he dismissed the idea. Another astronomer, John Flamsteed, saw the same unidentified object in 16903. Fredrick’s discovery of Uranus concluded that Galileo and Flamsteed had observed similar objects a century ago. Later in his career, Fredrick discovered two of Uranus’s moons, as well as two moons around the planet Saturn. In addition, he was also the first to suggest that nebulae consist of stars. With the new discovery of the planet Uranus, the solar system had just grown bigger introducing many new possibilities of space observation. Even though at the beginning, Fredrick did not have the tools to explore the universe, he found a way around the problem and solved it for himself. As a result, by making his own telescope, the universe had opened up to him in countless
ways.

Discovery of planet Uranus by Fredrick Herschel opened the doors to further space observations during that time. This discovery affected astronomers in the 1700’s with a desire and to further research and observe the universe. Past information gathered on the findings of the universe have built upon each other up until today. Our space knowledge would not be what it is today with out past astronomers having an interest in discovering the solar system.

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http://www.as.utexas.edu/astronomy/education/spring05/bromm/readings/herschel.pdf

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