of this asteroid as “maintaining the balance between power and justice; issues of
rights and partnership dynamics.” According to Martha Lang-Wescott, Hera “illus-
trates the relationship model of the parents as perceived by the individual—and
the way that model is acted out in present roles through assumptions about equali-
ty, fidelity and commitment in relationship.” This asteroid’s key phrase is “keeping
accounts.”Sources:
Lang-Wescott, Martha. Asteroids-Mechanics: Ephemerides II.Conway, MA: Treehouse Moun-
tain, 1990.
———. Mechanics of the Future: Asteroids.Rev. ed. Conway, MA: Treehouse Mountain, 1991.
Schwartz, Jacob. Asteroid Name Encyclopedia.St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1995.HERSCHEL
Herschel was the original designation of Uranus. It was named after Sir William Her-
schel, the astronomer who discovered Uranus. British astrologers persisted in using
the name long after the rest of the world had switched to Uranus.William Herschel was born Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in Hanover, Ger-
many, on November 15, 1738, and anglicized his name after he moved to England.
His original profession was music, and music students were said to have flocked to him
because of his talent, amiability, and teaching ability. He became interested in astron-
omy and took it up as a hobby; in time, it consumed him. He taught himself calculus
and optics and, dissatisfied with the quality of existing telescopes, designed and built
his own (later declared to be far better than any other in existence). He was creative
and resourceful. Concerned about the welfare of his sister Caroline, whose brilliance
was being wasted by parents who held very traditional ideas about the proper place of
women, Herschel arranged for her to move to England and become his partner in the
music (and later astronomy) business.A modest individual, he brought Uranus to the attention of other astronomers
with the announcement that he had discovered a new “comet.” When, after he had
become famous, the king wished to honor him with an official appointment, he made
certain that his sister also received a royal subsidy—making her the first woman in
history to become a professional astronomer. Herschel also went into the telescope-
manufacturing business: It was through a Herschel telescope that the first asteroid,
Ceres, was discovered.Sources:
Littmann, Mark. Planets Beyond: Discovering the Outer Solar System.2d ed. New York: John
Wiley & Sons, 1990.
Paul, Haydn. Revolutionary Spirit: Exploring the Astrological Uranus.Shaftesbury, Dorset, UK:
Element Books, 1989.
Room, Adrian. Dictionary of Astronomical Names.London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988.Herschel
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