Search results
William Lassell FRS FRSE FRSL FRAS (18 June 1799 – 5 October 1880) was an English merchant and astronomer. He is remembered for his improvements to the reflecting telescope and his ensuing discoveries of four planetary satellites.
William Lassell (born June 18, 1799, Bolton, Lancashire, Eng.—died Oct. 5, 1880, Maidenhead, Berkshire) was an amateur English astronomer who discovered Ariel and Umbriel, satellites of Uranus; and Triton, a satellite of Neptune.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- William Lassell – Early Years
- The Moons of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
- Uranus’ Moons
- Later Years
William Lassell was born in Bolton, Lancashire, UK, and educated in Rochdale Academy. He was apprenticed to a merchant in Liverpool and later became a beer brewer and hobby astronomer. Lassell built himself an observatory in West Derby, a suburb of Liverpool with a 610 mm reflector telescope for which he pioneered the use of an equatorial mount for...
Already in 1846, William Lassell discovered the largest moon of Neptune, Triton, 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself by Johann Gottfried Galle. Two years later, independently co-discovered Hyperion, a moon of Saturn. Both Ariel and the slightly larger Uranian satellite Umbriel were discovered by William Lassell on 24 October 1851. Althoug...
In total, Uranus has 27 known natural satellites and along with Ariel and Umbriel, Miranda, Titania, and Oberon belong to the five main satellites. The Uranian satellite system is the least massive among those of the giant planets and it is believed that the combined mass of Uranus’ five major satellites would be less than half that of Triton, the ...
When the British Queen Victoriavisited Liverpool in 1851, Lassell was the only personality she specifically asked to meet. In 1855, he built a 120-cm telescope, which he installed on the island of Malta for better observing conditions. In 1849 Lassell was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1858 he was awarded the Royal Med...
Jun 18, 2019 · William Lassell, an English amateur astronomer and telescope maker, was born June 18, 1799. Lassell made a substantial fortune as a brewer of beer, which he sold to the thirsty factory workers of Liverpool, and then used his income to build several fine reflecting telescopes, with mirrors that he ground himself.
May 22, 2021 · William Lassell, one of the foremost British astronomers of the nineteenth century, rose to fame during the months after the telescopic finding by discovering Triton, Neptune’s chief moon—important for calculating the planet’s mass and its influence on Uranus.
- Robert W. Smith, Richard Baum
- 2021
People also ask
What did William Lassell discover?
Who was William Lassell?
Where did William Lassell live?
What is the William Lassell prize?
Oct 10, 2017 · On October 10, 1846, English merchant and astronomer William Lassell discovered Triton, the largest moon of Neptune, just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.
Dec 24, 2016 · Lassell was one of the first English astronomers to abandon the unwieldy altazimuth structures of the William Herschel era, constructing a 9-in. Newtonian reflector and installing it at Starfield in 1833 on an equatorial mounting of his own design.
Searches related to William Lassell
how did william lassell find triton william lasell contribution to astronomy william lasell
