175 years since amateur astronomer found Uranus moons Ariel and Umbriel

On October 24, 1851, English amateur astronomer William Lassell discovered Ariel and Umbriel, two of Uranus' moons. Born in Bolton in 1799, Lassell made his fortune as a Liverpool beer brewer, then used it to build his own observatory, 'Starfield', by 1839. Uranus now has 29 officially recognised moons, according to counts as of August 2026.