**Herschel's Hidden Moons: Titania and Oberon Revealed**

# Astronomy Tonight Podcast

This is your Astronomy Tonight podcast.

Good evening, stargazers! It's January 11th, and we're diving into one of the most dramatic celestial events in modern astronomical history!

On January 11th, 1787, the legendary Sir William Herschel made a discovery that would fundamentally change our understanding of the Uranus system. Through his telescope in Bath, England, Herschel observed **two moons orbiting Uranus** – what we now call **Titania and Oberon**.

Now, here's where it gets really fun: imagine being Herschel in that moment. He'd already blown everyone's minds just six years earlier by discovering Uranus itself in 1781, essentially *doubling* the known size of our solar system overnight. And now, barely catching his breath, he's finding *satellites* around this alien world! The man was basically the Neil deGrasse Tyson of the 18th century, except without Twitter to immediately share his discoveries.

What makes this even more remarkable is that these moons are absolutely *enormous* – Titania is the second-largest moon in the entire solar system by diameter – and yet they remained hidden from human eyes for over a century after Uranus was discovered. The ice giant was keeping its secrets well guarded!

Herschel's meticulous observations that night opened the door to discovering that Uranus has an entire retinue of companions, and we've found 27 confirmed moons so far, many of them named after Shakespearean characters. Not bad for a night's work!

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI