Uranus's Impact On Astronomy

The discovery of Uranus made a huge impact on astronomy and the science community, and especially with the discovery of Neptune, which happens a little more than 60 years later. William Herschel, born in 1738 and the man behind the discovery of Uranus, would change history forever, and it all happened because of his excellent telescope making capabilities. Herschel was a very talented organist and musician, but his true passion lied with searching and recording the night sky. He was a telescope maker, and loved studying the different stars at night. His sister Caroline played a huge part in his discoveries by taking notes for him, and searching for comets. One night in 1781, when he was methodically searching the sky, he happened to come across an object that did not look like a regular star. After doing further study, and with the aid of his sister and his powerful telescope, he realized that it must be a planet. Later this planet would be called Uranus, and Herschel would be a very famous man in the science community because this would be the first planet discovered by someone in the modern age. …show more content…
"The Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy." As.Utexas.Edu. N.p., 1997. Web. 19 Feb.