Herschel

American  

[hur-shuhl] / ˈhɜr ʃəl /

noun

1. Sir John Frederick William, 1792–1871, English astronomer.

2. his father Sir William Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel, 1738–1822, English astronomer, born in Germany.

3. Also Hershel. a male given name.

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Herschel British  

/ ˈhɜːʃəl /

noun

1. Caroline Lucretia. 1750–1848, British astronomer, born in Germany, noted for her catalogue of nebulae and star clusters: sister of Sir William Herschel

2. Sir John Frederick William. 1792–1871, British astronomer. He discovered and catalogued over 525 nebulae and star clusters

3. his father, Sir ( Frederick ) William, original name Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel. 1738–1822, British astronomer, born in Germany. He constructed a reflecting telescope, which led to his discovery of the planet Uranus (1781), two of its satellites, and two of the satellites of Saturn. He also discovered the motions of binary stars

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Herschel Scientific  

/ hûr′shəl /

1. Family of British astronomers led by Sir William Herschel (1738–1822), who discovered Uranus (1781) and cataloged more than 800 binary stars and 2,500 nebulae. His sister Caroline Herschel (1750–1848) discovered eight comets and several nebulae and star clusters, and published at least two astronomical catalogs which are still currently used. His son Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792–1871) discovered 525 nebulae and pioneered celestial photography.

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Example Sentences

The author documents Tennyson’s reaction to books by the geologist Charles Lyell, the computer pioneer Charles Babbage and the astronomer John Herschel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Toward the end of the 18th century, astronomer William Herschel used star counts to map out the Milky Way.

From Salon • Feb. 14, 2025

The crater—named Herschel after astronomer William Herschel, who discovered Mimas in 1789—is thought to have formed hundreds of million years ago when an object several miles across crashed into the moon.

From National Geographic • Feb. 7, 2024

“He really moves to his own drum, man,” said Herschel Ramirez, Jackson’s defensive coordinator at Great Oak High in Temecula, California, his hometown.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 15, 2023

Herschel had little doubt that chemical, and, ultimately, biological phenomena, would also be attributed to such cause-and-effect mechanisms.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee