Historedia
Person

William Lassell

Events
4
Episodes
6
Years
1787–1852

Every event in Historedia whose sources name William Lassell, with the role they cite and all of that event’s episodes. This is not a biography, and mentions are grouped by name, so two people with the same name can share this page.

Events and episodes

  1. Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon

    1787

    Role: Assigned the designations Uranus I and Uranus II in 1848; discoverer of Ariel and Umbriel

    1. 11 January 1787 · Datchet (legacy location; not confirmed by supplied passages)Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon

      William Herschel discovered Uranus's two largest moons, Titania and Oberon, on the same night in January 1787.

    2. 1848–1852 · Nomenclature and designations assigned after discoveryNaming and later designations

      The moons remained unnamed until 1848 designations and John Herschel's 1852 Shakespearean names.

  2. Neptune discovered at Berlin Observatory; Lassell finds Triton

    1846

    Role: English astronomer who discovered Triton

    1. 23-24 September 1846 · Berlin ObservatoryDiscovery of Neptune at Berlin

      Galle and d'Arrest observed Neptune on 23 September 1846, confirming Le Verrier's predictions within 1° of the calculated location.

    2. 10 October 1846 · LiverpoolDiscovery of Triton from Liverpool

      William Lassell discovered Triton, Neptune's largest moon, on 10 October 1846, seventeen days after the planet's discovery.

  3. Bond and Lassell discover Hyperion, moon of Saturn

    1848

    Role: English merchant and astronomer

    1. September 1848 · United States and United KingdomDiscovery of Hyperion

      William Cranch Bond, George Phillips Bond, and William Lassell independently discovered Hyperion in September 1848.

  4. William Lassell discovers Ariel and Umbriel, moons of Uranus

    1852

    Role: Astronomer

    1. 1852 · unknownNaming by John Herschel

      John Herschel suggested the names Ariel and Umbriel in 1852 at Lassell's request, though the origin of the names is uncertain.

Sources

  1. Oberon (moon) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-26
  2. Titania (moon) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-11
  3. William Lassell Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-29
  4. Triton (moon) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-01
  5. Umbriel Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-03
  6. Ariel (moon) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-02