Herrnhuter

[From Herrnhut, in Upper Lusatia, Germany, the first established abode of the sect.] ( Eccl. Hist.) See MORAVIANS. Hers, pron. fem. po e ive. (Gram.) Of her; belonging to her; as, this house is hers-i. e., this is her house. "My eyes are oft'ner washed than hers." - Shaks . Herschel, ( her's hel ,) n. [From the discoverer, Sir W. Herschel.] ( Astron .) Same as URANUS, q. v. Herschel, ( her's hel ,) SIR WILLIAM, F. R. 8., a distinguished astronomer, B. at Hanover, 1738. He was educated as a musician, and early in life entered one of the bands belonging to the Han over i an army. Finding no chance of promotion in his own country, H. , in 1757, repaired to England, where he met with succe as a teacher and director of music. Imbued with a taste for, and having acquired a considerable knowledge of astronomy, he resolved to construct for himself a telescope wherewith to view the celestial phenomena he had hitherto read of only. He accordingly completed, in 1774, a 5-feet Newton i an reflector, with which he could see the satellites of Jupiter and the ring of Saturn. Not contented with this, H. made in succe ion no fewer than 200 seven -feet, 150 ten -feet, and about 80 twenty feet telescopes. His first regular observations with the telescope were made in 1776 and following years, and were published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1780. In 1781 he discovered what he at first thought a comet, but which turned out to be a new planet, which he called the Georgium Sidus , but which has since received the name of Uranus , from its being next to Saturn. After this discovery, which spread his reputation over Europe, King George III. munificently enabled him, by the grant of a salary, to devote the whole of his time to astronomy. He therefore took up his residence at Datchet, near Windsor, where he made many discoveries in double and triple stars, on the proper motion of the sun and solar system, the spots at the pole of Mars, and the nebulæ and cluster of stars observed by Me ier and Me chain. In 1787, H. discovered a 2d and 4th satellite of the Georgium Sidus, and in 1790 and 1799, five other satellites, viz., the 1st, 3d, 5th, and 6th, all of which move in a retrograde direction, in orbits almost perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic. In 1781, George III. defrayed the expense of a 40-feet telescope with a mirror 4 feet in diameter, 31⁄2 inches thick, and weighing 2,118 lbs. With this magnificent instrument H. discovered the 6th and 7th satellites, and also the spots, belts, and flattening on the 4 new planets between Mars and Jupiter. Till 1820, Sir William communicated almost every year important papers to the Royal Society on nebulæ, clusters of stars, the construction of the heavens, the motion of the solar system, on double stars, and on the 4 new planets between Mars and Jupiter. We owe to him also the discovery of invisible heating rays beyond the red extremity of the spectrum. Sir William H. was a member of the principal scientific societies of Europe and America; was created LL. D. in 1786, and in 1816 received the Cro of the Royal Guelphic Order. In 1820 he was elected the first president of the Royal Astronomical Society, and published in the first vol. of its Transactions a paper on 145 new double stars. D. Aug. 25, 1822.