4. Building upon the commonly held belief during the Renaissance and Early Modern periods that all planets housed life, William Herschel went further by proposing the Sun was also home to lifeforms
One of the most prominent astronomers of his age, William Herschel cataloged more than five thousand celestial objects across decades of observations, including being responsible for discovering in 1781 the first new planet since antiquity: Uranus. However, despite this immense accomplishment, earning himself a position as court astronomer, Herschel, like many of his contemporaries, equally subscribed to the scientific belief all other planets in the solar system contained life. A commonly held position during the Renaissance by scientists, although rejected by the Church authorities, Herschel took his belief in life beyond Earth even further by asserting life also existed and thrived on the Sun.
Arguing in 1795 in his essay “On the Nature and Construction of the Sun and Fixed Stars”, Hershel contended our central star was merely a giant planet. Building on the works of similarly confused astronomers during the 18th century, it was broadly asserted that sunspots were evidence the sun merely housed a luminous atmosphere beneath which an ordinary planetary surface existed along with lifeforms. Today, of course, we know our sun to be completely incapable of supporting any life, existing at a temperature of approximately 5,505 Celsius and possessing levels of gravity capable of crushing even the densest of matter.
