William Herschel. Caricature of the British astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822), holding the planet Uranus, which he discovered in 1781. Herschel was born Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in Germany, but moved to Britain in 1755. He constructed several telescopes and used them to extensively study the night sky. He catalogued double stars and studied the Moon's surface, but is remembered most for his discovery of Uranus. He also discovered satellites of Saturn and Uranus, first detected infrared radiation and played a major role in setting up what became the Royal Astronomical Society.