William Herschel was born in Hannover (now part of Germany) on November 15, 1738. He was a professional musician and the first person in history to discover a planet. The five planets we can see nearest the Sun had been known since prehistory. Later, as a professional astronomer, Herschel studied the stars and deep space objects to try to understand "the construction of the heavens." Assisted by his sister, he was one of the fathers of modern astronomy.
William Herschel
