Objects and Facilities.

The Herschel Astronomical Society (HAS) exists to provide a forum where those keen on astronomy can meet and share their mutual interests. Particular attention is paid to observing and the society has its own Observatory, situated in the grounds of Eton College, housing two telescopes (a 6-inch Cooke refractor and a 12-inch cassegrain) as well as a number of portable instruments. Public viewing sessions are organised as part of the society’s aim to help educate the public in the science of astronomy. The HAS also visits schools and other groups of young people to promote an interest in Astronomy from an early age.

Formal meetings, incorporating an astronomical lecture, are usually held on the second Friday of each month, from September through to May. Since the Society was formed much has changed in the way information is disseminated, primarily through the invention and growth of the Internet, so fewer of these classroom type meetings are now being held. Periodic outings are also organised to places of astronomical interest.

Observing evenings and less formal meetings are regularly held at members homes as this offers access to better equiped observatories as well as the oppotunity for more comfortable observing sessions. This also offers the opportunity to better help members with their telescope issues, especially those new to Astronomy.

Historical.

The HAS was founded in 1966 to provide a forum for active observers. (as opposed to the arm-chair variety) It took its name from Sir William Herschel, the 18th astronomer who, on 13 March 1781, using a telescope he had made himself, discovered the planet Uranus, the first new planet to be discovered since the dawn of history. At the time he was Director of Public Concerts in fashionable Bath, but in 1782 he was invited by King George III to become ‘King’s Astronomer’. He moved to Datchet, then to Old Windsor and finally to what became known as ‘Observatory House’ in Slough. Herschel continued to build telescopes, culminating in the giant 40-foot, completed in 1789, which remained the largest in the world for half a century. With the assistance of his sister Caroline, herself an accomplished astronomer, he explored the heavens in a way never before attempted. In addition to Uranus and two of its satellites his discoveries included some 2500 new Nebulae, 800 double stars, the rotation periods of the outer planets and two new moons of Saturn. In 1800, while studying the heat from he sun’s rays, he discovered Infra-red radiation.

Further details of Herschel’s work, and that of his sister Caroline, can be found on numerous web sites and in biographies, the best known of which is ‘The Herschel Chronicle’, written by his grand-daughter, Constance Lubbock.

In 1981, to mark the bi-centenary of the discovery of the planet Uranus, the HAS put on ‘An Evening with Herschel’ in the Planet Theatre in Slough, and began the building of their observatory. This was opened in 1983 by Patrick Moore and Caroline Herschel, the great-great-grand daughter of Sir William.