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Birth
Sir William Herschel was born on November 15, 1738 in Hanover, Germany. He grew up playing the obo in his father's band with hnis brother. -
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Sir William Herschel
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William's Refuge
In 1755, the band that William and his brother played the obo for was ordered to ship off to England. There he was a quick student of English and also started playing cello and violin. For the next two decades he composed numerous muical works and broadened his musical horizons. -
Astronomy
Herschel's music led him to an inerest in mathematics and astronomy. He and his sister Caroline started building telescopes to watch the night sky. -
Uranus
Herschel, during his search for double stars discovered a nonstellar disk that he thought at first was a comet or a star. The planet was first named, "Herschel", until universally named Uranus. -
Infrared Light
Herschel made another dramatic discovery in 1800. He wanted to know how much heat was passed through the different colored filters he used to observe sunlight. He devised many experiments to eventually discover a form of light now known as Infrared radiation. -
"Sir" William Herschel
Herschel was made a knight, hence the word sir in front of his name, by the Royal Guelphic Order. -
Death
Sir William Herschel died at age 86.