11 January 2011

Today in history

On January 11th, 1787, William Herschel discovered two moons orbiting Uranus. He actually discovered the planet itself several years previously. After his death, his son named the two moons after the characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oberon and Titania. Herschel built his own telescopes, including the one pictured that was forty feet long.