The Cosmology of William Herschel
Abstract
William Herschel was an amateur astronomer for half his life, until his discovery of Uranus earned him a royal pension. He then set himself to study "the construction of the heavens" with great reflectors, and discovered over 2,500 nebulae and star clusters. Clusters had clearly formed by the action of gravity, and so scattered clusters would in time become ever more compressed: scattered clusters were young, compressed clusters old. This marked the end of the 'clockwork' universe of Newton and Leibniz.
- Publication:
-
Cosmology Across Cultures
- Pub Date:
- August 2009
- Bibcode:
- 2009ASPC..409...91H