Today in the history of astronomy, an astronomy dynasty continues with the erudite son of William Herschel.
William Herschel’s son, John Herschel, carried on much of his father’s cataloging work while also breaking new ground. Credit: W. Ward, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The only child of astronomer William Herschel, John Herschel was born in England on March 7, 1792. After studying mathematics at Cambridge University, Herschel began working with his father from 1816 until William’s death in 1822. Early in his career, in 1820, he was a founding member of the Royal Astronomical Society. He also revisited the double stars logged by his father, compiling a much-admired catalog with James South between 1821 and 1823.
From 1834 to 1838, Herschel traveled to South Africa to map the skies of the Southern Hemisphere; Although his father had completely mapped the Northern Hemisphere, the southern skies remained largely bare. He was an early solar researcher, measuring the Sun’s energy and radiation output, and also a pioneer in the field of photography. Herschel also wrote several historical texts, including General list of nebulae and clusters (predecessor of the modern NGC catalogue). Highly respected in the science community and in England, Herschel was knighted as a baronet and continued his astronomy work until his death on May 11, 1871.
