The Herschel Museum of Astronomy, Bath

The Herschel Museum of Astronomy

The Herschel Museum of Astronomy has acquired Caroline Herschel’s visitor book for its permanent collection. 

The book forms an important part of the display within the house. 

The Herschel Museum of Astronomy is in New King Street, where self-taught amateur astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus in March 1781. In doing so, he doubled the size of the known universe. 

His sister Caroline was also a talented astronomer and the first woman to discover a comet. 

The book is a vellum-bound volume, compiled by Caroline Herschel from the mid-1780s. 

Written in Caroline’s own hand, it lists over a hundred names of people who came to see them, including the King and Queen, to look through William’s telescopes. 

Website: www.herschelmuseum.org.uk