Published: Wednesday, 11th February, 2009 5:00pm

Slough's history reaches the stars

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SLOUGH'S mayor has praised a new space telescope named after the town's famous former resident.

Cllr Raja Mohammed Zarait sent congratulations to the European Space Agency for its imminent launch of the Herschel Space Observatory.

The project took 20 years to create and will be launched this month and will soon become the largest telescope mirror in space. It will study the formation of stars and galaxies.

Its namesake, Sir William Herschel, lived in Slough in August 1789 in his home, aptly named Observatory House, and discovered planet Uranus. He is buried in St Laurence Church off Upton Court Road, Slough.

Cllr Zarait said: "The completion of the Herschel Space Observatory programme is a wonderful piece of history and both personally and on behalf of the residents of Slough, we salute your achievement."