William Herschel: The First Telescope

William Herschel discovered the first planet in recorded times, we know it as Uranus. Herschel interestingly enough was actually a musician and an amateur astronomer when he first laid eyes upon Uranus. Herschel does not credit his discovery to chance, rather it was a result of his diligent studies of the heavens that allowed him to discover the planet. At the time Herschel had been surveying the skies at night trying discover all the double stars, he was using his home made telescope which was the first of it's kind and was a lot more powerful in comparison with the telescopes of other astronomers of his time. The fact that his telescope was more powerful than most plays a key factor in his discovery and shows that the development of new technology played a role …show more content…
He was able to see what he at first believed to be a comet when others could not due to weakness of their own telescopes. The fact that Herschel was an amateur and the puzzling