Herschel Museum of Astronomy facts for kids
The front of the Herschel Museum of Astronomy in 2005
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| Established | 13 March 1981 |
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| Location | 19 New King Street, Bath, BA1 2 BL |
| Owner | Herschel House Trust (Bath Preservation Trust) |
| Nearest car park | Disabled parking slot outside building |
The Herschel Museum of Astronomy is a cool place to visit in Bath, England. It opened in 1981. This museum is inside a really old house at 19 New King Street. It used to be the home of two famous astronomers, William Herschel and his sister Caroline Herschel.
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Discover the Herschel Museum of Astronomy
The museum is in the old home of the Herschel family. This house is a well-kept example of a small town house from that time. It has five floors, including two main rooms on the ground and first floors. The house was built around 1764-1770.
The Herschels moved into 19 New King Street in 1777. William Herschel made a huge discovery while living here. In March 1781, he found the planet Uranus! He used a special 7-foot telescope that he built himself in his workshop behind the house. William left Bath in 1782. But his sister Caroline and their brother Alexander stayed in the house until 1784.
This historic building has been carefully looked after. It was restored in 1981 and again in 2000. They even used old wallpaper designs found in other Bath houses to make it look just right.
How the Museum Was Saved
In 1977, a group called the William Herschel Society was formed. They wanted to save the house from being torn down. In 1981, with help from Doctors Leslie and Elizabeth Hilliard, the house was bought. An asteroid, 6395 Hilliard, was later named after them! The house was then given to the Herschel House Trust.
The museum officially opened on March 13, 1981. This was exactly 200 years after William Herschel discovered Uranus. The Herschel House Trust runs the museum. The Bath Preservation Trust became the main helper for the museum in 2015. Famous people like Patrick Moore and Brian May have supported the museum.
The museum offers audio tours to help you explore. If you have trouble walking, you can take a virtual tour. There's also a book with tactile images for visitors who are blind or have low vision. You can even touch some of the replica objects, like Herschel's polishing machine! The museum uses QR codes for translations of the displays in many languages. They also have fun trails for kids and school programs.
Inside the Herschel Home
The museum shows you what the Herschel home was like. The basement has a kitchen, a small sitting room, and William's workshop. On the ground floor, there's an entrance hall, a dining room, and a larger room at the back. The dining room still has Herschel's dining table. On the first floor, you'll find the Music Room and the Drawing Room. The upper floors used to be bedrooms but are now apartments.
The Kitchen
The kitchen has an old-fashioned cast iron stove and a stone floor. It also features a replica Georgian house. This model house looks just like the museum building and is fully furnished inside!
William's Workshop
William built a workshop in the garden behind the basement. This is where he did his experiments and made his telescope lenses. It still has his old treadle lathe. William and his brother Alexander built their telescopes here. You can see a copy of his furnace and a replica of his machine for polishing lenses. The original polishing machine is in the Science Museum, London. You can touch the replica polishing machine and use a touchscreen to learn about the tools.
Caroline Lucretia Gallery
The Caroline Lucretia Gallery was added to the museum in 2011. It's named after Caroline Herschel, William's sister. This modern gallery has big glass windows and a cool roof. It's built with Bath stone to match the rest of the building. Inside, two walls are the original outer walls of the kitchen and workshop.
This gallery gives the museum more space for special exhibits. It has featured shows on light, on Caroline Herschel's life, and on science during the time of the Battle of Waterloo.
The Star Vault Auditorium
The "Star Vault Astronomy auditorium" opened in 2003. Here, you can watch a short film about the Herschels and their life in the house. It also talks about modern space exploration. The film is narrated by the famous astronomer Patrick Moore.
The Georgian Garden
The museum's garden has been restored to look like a fancy Georgian town garden. It has cypress trees and a quince arbour. You can also see old medicinal and cooking plants that would have grown there in 1794.
In the garden, there's a cool steel sculpture that looks like a seed head. It's 1.25 meters (about 4 feet) wide. This sculpture shows where Uranus would be in a huge model of the solar system that stretched across the UK!
You'll also find a sculpture of William and Caroline called Star Gazers. It was made by Vivien Moudell and shows them looking at a paper with a drawing of the solar system. The garden also has a sundial where William might have put his telescope.
The Music Room
William Herschel used the Music Room to teach his students how to play music. It has a beautiful old pedal harp from 1795. This harp is decorated with fancy carvings and flowers.
The music room also has a modern sculpture of an orrery. An orrery is a model that shows how planets move around the sun. This one was made in 2009 and is based on an 18th-century orrery at the museum.
Museum Collections
The museum has some interesting items. You can see a small dress that Caroline Herschel wore when she was about 50 years old. It's made of white fabric with blue spots.
Other cool things include:
- A Thomas Butterfield sundial from around 1690. It's made of silver and shaped like a bird.
- A Copernican Armillary sphere by George Delamarche. This brass model shows how the planets orbit the sun. It even has Herschel's name and Uranus on it!
- A Cometarium, which shows how a comet moves around the sun. This is on loan from the Science Museum, London.
- Paintings of Elizabeth Baldwin and John Herschel.
You can also see a small model of William Herschel's huge 40-foot telescope. There's even an early photo of it framed with wood from the actual telescope! The museum also has rare books, like Caroline's visitor book, which you can view on a computer.
In 2015, the museum announced that it would keep Patrick Moore's collection of items related to William Herschel.
Images for kids
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The front of the Herschel Museum of Astronomy in 2005
