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What discoveries did William Lassell make with his reflecting telescopes?
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Telescope
Aerial view of the Keck Observatory's twin domes, which are opened to reveal the telescopes. Keck II is on the left and Keck I on the right.
William Lassell was a pioneering amateur astronomer who utilized reflecting telescopes of his own design to make several significant astronomical discoveries.1
Using a 24-inch reflector, he achieved the following:
* Triton: Discovered this satellite of Neptune on October 10, 1846, just 17 days after the planet itself was found.1
* Hyperion: Identified this Saturn moon in 1848, concurrently with William and George Bond.1
* Saturn’s Rings: Made an independent sighting of the dark inner "crepe ring" of Saturn in 1850.1
* Ariel and Umbriel: Discovered these two major moons of Uranus in 1851–52.12
Later, while working in Malta, Lassell employed a larger 48-inch reflecting telescope to observe and catalog hundreds of new nebulae.1