William Herschel (1738–1822)
Frederick William Herschel was a
German-born musician and amateur astronomer who taught music in
the genteel English town of Bath by day and observed the
heavens at night with telescopes of his own construction. In
1781 March he chanced upon an unknown object which at first he
took to be a comet but which was later recognized to be a new
planet – the first planet ever discovered, since it was
unknown to ancient astronomers on account of its faintness.
Herschel’s discovery doubled the known size of the Solar
System overnight, made him an international celebrity and
ensured him the patronage of the King of England, George III.
He was helped in his observations by his
sister Caroline, who is commemorated on stamps from the
island of Redonda and Guyana.
Only a selection of Herschel stamps is
shown here.
Discovery of Uranus (Gabon, 1981)
The west African nation of Gabon marked the
200th anniversary of the discovery of Uranus with this stamp.
Herschel is shown underneath a depiction of Uranus which is
based on an old telescopic photograph, complete with halation
ring – this is actually a photographic effect, not the
planet’s true ring.
Stanley Gibbons no. 753
Discovery of Uranus (Mali, 1981)
Mali’s commemoration of the 200th
anniversary of the discovery of Uranus shows Herschel next to a
sketch of the planet. The sketch illustrates the planet’s
extreme axial tilt and compares its diameter to that of the
Earth, which is a quarter the size.
Stanley Gibbons no. 852
Herschel’s Telescope (Nicaragua,
1985)
William Herschel’s 1.2-m (48-inch)
reflector at Slough, England, was in its day the largest
telescope in the world. It is shown along with another
world-beater, the 5-m (200-inch) Hale reflector on Mount
Palomar, on this stamp from Nicaragua which formed part of a
set marking the appearance of Halley’s Comet.
Stanley Gibbons no. 2712
Herschel and Uranus (Ivory Coast, 1986)
William Herschel floats in the ether next
to Uranus and its rings with Halley’s Comet in the
background in this 1986 stamp from the Ivory Coast, part of a
set commemorating the return of Halley’s Comet.
Stanley Gibbons no. 875
Herschel, Uranus, and Miranda (Central
African Republic, 1987)
On this stamp from the Central African
Republic, a somewhat ghostly Herschel is shown against a
backdrop of Uranus along with the space probe Voyager 2
(described under its old name of Mariner Mark II) which passed
Uranus in 1986, and the satellite Miranda, which Voyager
photographed in detail. Herschel discovered two moons of
Uranus, but Miranda was not one of them. The stamp was part of
a set of six commemorating various feats and personalities of
space research.
Stanley Gibbons no. 1248
Herschel’s birth (Nevis, 2000)
The birth of Herschel was commemorated by
the island of Nevis in the West Indies on a Millennium sheet
that covered events in the years 1700–1750. The text in
the margin of the sheet refers to him as “the English
astronomer” and says: “He built high magnification
telescopes that let him observe the heavens with greater
detail. Herschel discovered the planet Uranus and advanced our
understanding of nebulae. He also founded stellar
astronomy.”
Stanley Gibbons no. 1409