William and Caroline Herschel in their own words

William and Caroline Herschel in their own words

William Herschel was not only an excellent self-taught observer who discovered the planet Uranus, he also created the most powerful telescopes of his day and was a pioneering theorist. His achievements depended in large part on the assistance of his sister Caroline. She developed as an astronomer in her own right,making numerous discoveries of comets and nebulae. Thanks to the generous donations of the Herschel family in the 20th century, the Royal Astronomical Society is the custodian of a significant collection of the Herschel papers. This talk will feature key notebooks and drawings from the Herschel archives, allowing the audience to learn more about the Herschels' discoveries and the working relationship between these trail-blazing astronomers.

Sian manages the library and archives of the Royal Astronomical Society, making them accessible to researchers and working with colleagues to use them in outreach and education activities. With a background in languages and a PhD in French medieval manuscripts, she became drawn to working with libraries and archives, and since joining the Royal Astronomical Society in 2014 has completed the Certificate in Astronomy at UCL to better understand and interpret the RAS collections, and the people that created them.