Herschel, Sir John Frederick William

Herschel, Sir John Frederick William (1792-1871), British astronomer and chemist, born in Slough, Berkshire, and educated at the University of Cambridge. He re-examined the double stars and nebulae observed by his father, Sir William Herschel, and added to the elder Herschel's catalogues. To complete his father's survey of the heavens, he led an expedition to the Cape of Good Hope in 1834 to study the stars of the southern hemisphere; the results were published in 1847. He became President of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1848. Herschel was knighted in 1831 and was created Baron in 1850.