For our second History of Astronomy group meeting of the season, we were treated to a talk by Gerard Gilligan of the Liverpool Astronomical Society and founder member of the Society for the History of Astronomy.
Gerard came to speak to us about the Victorian astromer (and brewer!), William Lassell, who became internationally famous for his discovery of Triton, Neptune’s largest moon, just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself.
But for a sprained ankle, there is every possibility that Lassell could have discovered Neptune himself, but the astronomers in Berlin got that accolade first.
Find out more in the full video of the event:
Our sincere thanks to Gerard for making the trip down to Liverpool to speak to us about this fascinating astronomer.