Observatory House,Slough,England,15 May 1924. A telescope is on the lawn at centre. The astronomers William Herschel (1738-1822) and his sister Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) moved here in April 1786. His 40-foot telescope,the largest in the world at the time,was built here and used in August 1789 to discover Enceladus,a moon of Saturn. Caroline's work at Observatory House included the discovery of several comets. John Herschel (1792-1871),William's son,was born and raised here,and William died here. The house remained in the Herschel family for several generations until the time of John Charles William Herschel (1869-1950),John's grandson. The house was demolished in around 1960. Photographed by William H. Steavenson (1894-1975) |