Sir William Huggins

Sir William Huggins was a pioneering 19th-century astronomer who advanced our understanding of stars and distant celestial objects. He used early technology to analyze light from stars, revealing their composition, movement, and properties. Huggins demonstrated that we could learn detailed information about objects far beyond Earth through spectroscopy—that is, studying how they emit or absorb light. His work helped transform astronomy into a scientific discipline based on measurable data rather than mere observation. Overall, Sir William Huggins played a key role in making the universe more understandable through scientific analysis of starlight.