The only child of astronomer William Herschel, John Herschel was born March 7, 1792, in England. After studying mathematics at Cambridge University, Herschel began working with his father from 1816 until William’s death in 1822. Early in his career, in 1820, he was a founding member of the Royal Astronomical Society. He also reobserved the double stars logged by his father, compiling a much-acclaimed catalog with James South between 1821 and 1823.
From 1834 to 1838, Herschel traveled to South Africa to map the skies of the Southern Hemisphere; though his father had thoroughly charted the Northern Hemisphere, the southern skies were largely unmapped. He was an early solar researcher, measuring the energy and radiation output of the Sun, and was a pioneer in the field of photography as well. Herschel also authored several landmark texts, including the General Catalog of Nebulae and Clusters (a predecessor of the modern NGC catalog). Highly respected in the science community and England, Herschel was knighted as a baronet and continued his astronomy work until his death on May 11, 1871.
