William Lassell
English merchant and astronomer (1799-1880) · United Kingdom · On the map · Scientists · Died at 81
A brewer by trade who ground his own telescope mirrors and found moons no one else could see - four of them, orbiting Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn.
William Lassell is read about 36 times a day, in 58 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 10 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 113 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
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About this person
William Lassell was born on 18 June 1799 in England and made his living as a merchant, but his real work happened at night. He refined the design of the reflecting telescope, crafting optics sharp enough to pull faint objects from the dark. That precision paid off: he discovered four planetary satellites that had eluded every astronomer before him, circling the outer giants of the solar system. His finds expanded the known architecture of the planets at a time when each new moon redrew the map. He died on 5 October 1880, having seen farther than his tools were supposed to allow.
