Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Why was the European Space Agency’s Herschel space telescope named after William Herschel?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
William Herschel
Sir William Herschel, detail of an oil painting by L. Abbott, 1785; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
The European Space Agency’s Herschel space telescope was named in honor of the German-born British astronomer Sir William Herschel because he was the scientist who discovered infrared radiation in 1800.1
As the telescope was specifically designed to study infrared radiation from various astronomical objects, naming it after the pioneer of that field served as a tribute to his foundational contribution to astronomy.1