Two Moons

This image of Uranus was compiled from images returned Jan. 17, 1986, by the narrow-angle camera of Voyager 2

January 11 1787 – 21 Tevet 5547

Sir William Herschel, an astronomer and composer of Jewish descent, discovered the Uranian moons Titania and Oberon. The planet Uranus had been discovered not long before, also by Herschel, whose father, Isaac, was a German Jew who married a Christian woman and raised his children as Christians. Herschel is also credited with the discovery of infra-red radiation, which has been key to the development of night-vision instruments.