William Herschel's Seven-Foot Reflecting Telescope

William Herschel made this Newtonian reflector between 1783 and 1785: a polished metal mirror about six inches across at the bottom of a seven-foot mahogany tube, on a stand that swings it up and down and around. It was built for his friend Dr. Watson, and it is the same type of telescope Herschel was using in 1781 when he discovered Uranus. Herschel sold telescopes like this to observers across Europe; this one is in the Science Museum in London.